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New York: A construction crane collapsed in a residential Manhattan neighbourhood yesterday, smashing into a 23-storey apartment building before crashing onto the street below and killing one person.
A resident at the scene said it appeared the entire cab came off the crane; its main arm hit the penthouse of his building, then "took out the north-east corner,".
In addition to the confirmed fatality, crews pulled others out of the wreckage. The fire department said their conditions were not immediately known.
Video from the scene showed the upper-floor balconies of the apartment building were severely damaged and a hole extended several stories down the side of the building.
It was the second deadly crane accident in two and a half months in New York City, which is undergoing a building boom. Mayor Michael Bloomberg said the latest collapse was "unacceptable," and the city would investigate.
In April, the city's buildings commissioner resigned, under fire over a rising number of construction accidents that have left more than 26 construction workers dead in the past year.
Since then, the city has added extra inspections at building sites and other procedures were being reviewed.
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