UPDATE: World Trade Center Crane Accident: Crane Cable Snaps, Worker Hurt
By Daniel Edward Rosen February 16, 2012 12:03 pm
reprintsA construction worker was slightly injured at the World Trade Center construction site after a cable popped on a crane carrying a heavy load of steel beams, causing the steel to fall forty floors below and crush a flatbed truck, sources said.
The accident happened at 4 World Trade Center just before 10 a.m. this morning. The crane was lifting a load of steel off a flatbed truck when the cable snapped, sending the steel right back down to the truck, a source close to the matter told The Commercial Observer.
A man, believed to be one of the workers, was treated for minor injuries at the scene and was released.
One witness told DNAInfo that he thought it was another plane that hit the site:
“All of a sudden I heard a woosh, the cable snapped and the entire load came falling,” said Matt Bergen, an engineer working at the site. “I originally thought it was another plane, because it sounded just like a plane. I’m amazed it didn’t hit the building or anyone on the ground.”
Located at 150 Greenwich Street, the 72-story 4 World Trade Center tower will be the fourth-tallest skyscraper on the World Trade Center site.
Tishman Construction, one of the construction managers on the site, is expected to release a statement about the accident shortly.
UPDATE (12:17 P.M)
A Tishman spokesman released this statement:
“This morning around 10 am, the cable of a crane broke, causing the steel it was lifting to fall approximately 40 stories back onto the flatbed truck that had transported the steel into the World Trade Center site. The incident occurred within an enclosed section of the site, which is not accessible to the public. No one was injured as a result of the fall. We are investigating the matter in full cooperation with the Port Authority, FDNY and NYC Department of Buildings. The job is partially shut down pending the investigation.”
drosen@observer.com
