2 Workers Killed in Construction Accident in Queens NY

[Etsu]

Kind of rare to get a footage from the US
News from last week:
A crane operator and a construction worker were killed on Tuesday when a steel beam fell from a crane on a gusty day in Queens, officials said.

The accident occurred around 12:10 p.m. at a construction site at 81-10 134th Street in the Briarwood neighborhood, where work was being done on an apartment complex. The beam had been lifted about four stories when it fell, striking the cab of the crane and killing the operator inside before hitting the worker on the ground who had been helping to guide it with a flag.

The two unidentified workers, ages 47 and 43, were dead by the time emergency workers arrived, officials said. The I-shaped beam weighed about 6,500 pounds, officials said.

Officials at the scene said investigators were trying to determine why the beam fell. Their preliminary findings indicated that the cause was a failure of the crane’s rigging, unrelated to the wind, Rick D. Chandler, the commissioner of the city’s Buildings Department, said. But Mr. Chandler cautioned that investigators were at the beginning of their inquiry and that they had not made any final determinations.

[eyeful_hound]

The video looks like the place is confined, but there are more pictures here, showing it is fairly open and along a street. Also shows emergency workers trying to pry the cab open to free the body.
More Photos Here (click)

[DEWBZ]

The guy you can hear in the background has 2nd thoughts on his career choice

[><0300><]

That's insane. Awesome find for real

[><0300><]

Originally Posted by eyeful_hound

The video looks like the place is confined, but there are more pictures here, showing it is fairly open and along a street. Also shows emergency workers trying to pry the cab open to free the body.
More Photos Here (click)

Awesome add

[><0300><]

Here's some pics

Cable in deadly crane accident couldn’t support steel beam.

Firefighters at the scene of a deadly crane accident in Queens.
Firefighters at the scene of a deadly crane accident in Queens.

“The beam was too heavy for the cable. They should have used stronger cable to carry that amount of weight,” the source said.

Crane operator George Smith, 47, and worker Elizandro Ramos, 43, were killed when the I-beam plummeted onto the top of the cab in Briarwood Tuesday.

Winds were gusting at close to 40 mph at the time – above the legal city limit of 30 mph to operate – but “wind played no role in the accident,” the source declared.

The city is still investigating whether winds were a factor, but officials said that it is not likely and that the rigging rope may have failed.

Ramos’ devastated partner Santos Morales who was helping guide the beam, said that Ramos was having problems on his end.

“He was trying to put his in. He couldn’t put it in. I don’t know why,” said Morales. “The beam hit him in the head and he fell. He fell on his back.”

“I’m feeling weak. He was my friend. He had three babies [aged 16, 10, and 5], all girls,” Morales said.

Workers at the jobsite at 82nd Avenue and 134th Street Wednesday were securing already in-place beams on the project, but were unable to do any more since the city Buildings Department – which is investigating the incident – issued a stop-work order.

[zin0]

OMFG!!!

[kellyhound]

great find.

[Susan]

I doubt those guys could have been saved even if emergency services got there within seconds.

[King Herald]

The cable wasn't strong enough? Who the hell decided that?

The whole crane should be load rated to safely lift a known maximum. Any site that uses cranes HAS to have trained and certified personnel to rig the load, drive the crane, plan the loads etc.

Saying the cable wasn't strong enough is so far out of the ball park it is almost funny. It has to be FOUR times stronger than the heaviest load it is allowed to lift.

Believe me, somebody is going to be charged with man slaughter here!!!