08.05.2008

Lucky escape

A mechanic and a cleaner had a lucky escape at a bus depot in Sydney today after the boom of a 50-tonne mobile crane came crashing down on top of the bus they were working in.

The crane was lifting a slab of concrete on a construction site in Balmain Road in Leichhardt, when it lost stability tipping over with the boom crashing through a fence and landing on the roof of the bus in the adjacent bus depot.
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The boom and the bus

Three people were working on the bus, on man outside washing it, while a mechanic and a cleaner working inside. The crane’s boom landed near the front of the bus somewhere around the third row, the mechanic was sitting in the drivers seat.

The driver is believed to have climbed out of the bus through the front windscreen which had smashed, cutting his hand in the process. The bus was parked in the depots refueling bay.

The crane, owned by Everwilling Cranes, was working on an extension to the depot, being carried out by construction company AW Edwards.

The crane operator was treated on site for shock Workcover is investigating the incident.