Dashcam footage has surfaced online which shows the moment a huge crane fell on traffic in Seattle and killed four people.
As reported yesterday, a crane at the Google campus in Seattle fell during a storm and plummeted onto six cars at the intersection of Fairview Avenue and Mercer Street on Saturday afternoon. Initially, no footage was available of the collapse itself but footage shared on YouTube and published by NBC News shows the moment of impact.
Looking at the video, it is clear that the crane started to slowly lean to one side before the collapse. As the crane fell, it slammed into the roof of the Google building and split into three large pieces, two of which fell to the road below.
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While speaking about the incident on Saturday, Fire Department spokesman Lance Garland said that the two ironworkers inside the crane when it collapsed were both killed. Two others who were in cars on the road were also killed while three others were taken to a local hospital for treatment of non-life threatening injuries.
Investigations into the collapse are ongoing but business manager for the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 302, Daren Konopaski, told media that the crane was being dismantled when high winds caused it to collapse.
“We don’t know, but that’s what seems to have happened here. We are in the process of trying to get information,” he said.
In a statement issued about the collapse, Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan said it was fortunate that more weren’t killed.
“It’s a horrible day in Seattle when something like this happens. But it’s a time when we come together because Seattle is a city that rallies around each other,” Durkan said.