:: rawblogXport ::

:: Wednesday, February 18, 2004 ::

Crane collapse kills 3 By JOE MAHR and CHRISTINA HALL, ToledoBlade
Disaster leaves 5 injured, shuts down busy highway

In the Toledo area’s worst construction accident in decades, three ironworkers died and five other workers were injured yesterday after a 2-million-pound crane collapsed at the southern end of the new I-280 bridge in East Toledo.

Rescue crews spent four hours recovering the dead as fellow construction workers held vigil in 20-degree weather and onlookers stood stunned at a construction project touted for its engineering ingenuity and safety record.

"They were very experienced ironworkers. None of them were rookies. They were very good, top men," said Joe Blaze, business manager of Ironworkers Local 55 in Toledo. "This is just a tragic day for the ironworkers and their families."

Worker Killed in Conn. Bridge Accident By JOHN CHRISTOFFERSEN, AP
The cranes, working on removing the old bridge, were lifting a girder when one crane fell off its barge and into the river and the boom of the other crane snapped, said Chris Cooper, a spokesman for the state Department of Transportation.

posted 6:57 AM :: reference link :: 0 comments ::

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