A large crane on a Manhattan high-rise building caught fire and collapsed Wednesday onto 10th Avenue, leading to street closures and evacuations of nearby buildings.
While investigations into what caused the blaze are still ongoing, video from the scene shows the crane collapsing and striking a residential high rise building before plummeting to the street below. One firefighter and one civilian were initially reported to have been hurt as a result, but the number injured has since been updated to five, all of whom appear to have sustained non-life-threatening injuries, according to CNN.
NYC
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New York City construction crane catches on fire before apparent collapse… pic.twitter.com/bTdRUThlBz— ZZZ (@AskMeLaterOn) July 26, 2023
More footage shared on social media, showed firefighters desperately attempting to douse the flames on the roof of the building struck by the crane as it collapsed.
FDNY putting out the fire from the roof of the building across 10th Ave. That building was hit by the crane as it collapsed. See the damage in the left of the frame. #nyc #crane #collapse #fdny #nypd pic.twitter.com/nT5rPGjoMW
— Andrew Kofink (@akofink) July 26, 2023
The crane, located on the west side of Manhattan caught fire at approximately 7:30 a.m., sending fire crews out to douse the flames, according to Fox 5 New York. The crane was reportedly carrying 16 tons of concrete when the blaze began. The fire subsequently weakened the cable holding up the concrete, causing both the crane boom and the concrete to plummet to the ground below, according to ABC 7 New York. (RELATED: Construction Crane Collapses In Manhattan, Killing At Least One)
The crane operator was reportedly present when the fire broke out, but when he could not extinguish the flames himself, he evacuated the scene to safety, the outlet stated.
This is a developing story, check back for more updates.