Crane Accident Causes Injuries, Strikes Nearby Building

A construction crane accident in New York City tragically injured 11 individuals and shut down traffic on July 26 after the crane burst into flames 45 stories above ground. The top portion of the crane, which was lifting 16 tons of concrete at the time as it worked on a 54-story building in Midtown Manhattan, struck a neighboring building as it fell, the New York Times reported. Two firefighters were among those injured.

Witnesses described the terrifying scene as unlike anything they had seen before, with one nearby resident saying he heard “a big bang and then the fireball.” The accident remains under investigation, but early reports pointed to a possible hydraulic line rupture in the crane, the Times reported. The owner of the crane, New York Crane and Equipment Corp., has been linked to other serious crane accidents in the past, including incidents involving fatalities, the Associated Press reported July 27.

“When a crane goes down, it happens in a bad way. It is very high hazard,” said Adrian Smith , Managing Director, Broker, Casualty, Burns & Wilcox Brokerage, Chicago, Illinois. “When something goes wrong, it is usually in the news.”

Accident-related expenses could be covered by a construction company’s?Commercial General Liability (CGL) Insurance which can cover third-party bodily injury and property damage claims. Excess liability insurance for crane business has become increasingly more difficult to obtain as insurance carriers have exited the class due to some of the high-profile incidents and large awards, Smith said. This particular accident “could have been a lot worse,” a fire official said in a news conference.

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