The city is investigating how a cable snapped from a crane Thursday, sending steel bars plummeting 40 stories to the ground at the World Trade Center construction site.
The crane was lifting steel bars from a flatbed truck, which was crushed when the load came crashing down, according to the FDNY. Miraculously, nobody was injured in the incident.
The incident happened at a section of the construction site closed off to the public, according to the contractor, Tishman Construction.
An FDNY spokesman said two people were treated at the site because they were shaken by the incident, but refused medical attention. One was the crane’s operator.
“I think it was just stress,” said an FDNY spokesman.
The accident happened at 9:58 a.m. at Building 4 near Church and Cortland streets.
The city’s Department of Buildings, the Port Authority, the FDNY and Tishman are investigating, Tishman spokesperson John P. Gallagher said. Crane operations were suspended Thursday following the investigation, said the DOB.
WTC concrete worker Hondo A., 44, who declined to give his last name, was working by the
crane when it crashed.
“It sounded like a little boom, ka-boom,” he said. “Thank goodness no one was seriously injured.”
He has been working at the site for just six months, but has already seen a number of incidents.
“We face danger every day,” Hondo said. “We take it one day at a time.”
Other crane crashes
In 2008, a crane collapsed on East 51st Street, cutting through an apartment building and breaking away part of the facade. Seven people were killed, including six construction workers. The contractor’s license was revoked in July 2011 by the Department of Buildings.
Later that year, another crane collapsed on the Upper East Side, killing two workers and damaging high-rises at 91st Street and First Avenue.
In March 2010, a crane hit a building near Wall Street, causing a part of the structure to crumble. There were no injuries in that incident, but WCTV reported that the crane was listing before it fell.
