The New York City Fire Department says a crane collapse early Friday in Manhattan's Tribeca neighborhood killed at least one person, seriously injured two others and left another with minor injuries.
#FDNY operating on scene of crane collapse at 40 Worth St & W Bdwy in Manhattan. 1 fatality confirmed, 2 serious pic.twitter.com/6aUjhB7J4o
— FDNY (@FDNY) February 5, 2016
The Associated Press reported that the person killed was a Wall Street worker sitting in a parked car.
Fire officials tweeted that they sent more than 140 fire and emergency medical services personnel from more than 40 units to the scene at the intersection of Worth Street and West Broadway.
A cellphone video captured by a construction worker working nearby shows the crane slowly descending and then rapidly collapsing onto the street below.
Photos posted by the FDNY on Twitter show the red crane stretching down the street with its vehicle crushed and flipped over.
Later in the day, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio was briefed on the situation, and the New York Police Department posted video of the mayor surveying the damage.
The AP reports that:
"The accident happened as workers were trying to secure the crane against winds around 20 mph by lowering the boom, which had been extended to as long as 565 feet the day before, officials said. Because the crane was being lowered, workers were directing pedestrians away from it on a street that otherwise would likely have been teeming with people."
Officials were working to figure out what caused the crane collapse.
The FDNY also posted a photo of a crushed car next to the crane. The AP reports that "the crane landed across several parked cars, smashing their roofs."
A witness told the wire service that "he saw onlookers trying to help a person who was trapped in a car."
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