24.03.2009

Crane drops load

A mobile crane working on a railway upgrade south of Telarah, near Maitland in Australias’s Hunter Valley, dropped four lengths of steel rail onto a work crew yesterday, killing one and injuring four others.

Two of the injured were airlifted to Newcastle’s John Hunter Hospital for emergency treatment, while the others were taken by ambulance to a local hospital. One was later reported to have lost a leg while the other three are still in sesrious condition.

The local police declared the site a crime scene and secured it overnight whilst local detectives, forensics officers and WorkCover investigators conducted inquiries into the circumstances surrounding the incident.

The crane operator was interviews by the police at the scene.