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Oct 18, 2007 9:43 am US/Eastern
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Crane Accident In Midtown Leaves 8 Injured
Crane's Bucket Fell From 53 Stories Up
NEW YORK (AP) ―
City officials halted work on a midtown Manhattan skyscraper after a construction accident rained glass and debris onto the street, slightly injuring eight people.
Deputy Buildings Commissioner Robert LiMandri said in a statement that the city would not let work resume until construction manager Tishman Construction Corp. provided a detailed report on the accident and how to prevent future mishaps.
A Tishman spokesman did not immediately return a telephone message about the city's order early Thursday.
A construction crane's bucket fell from the top of the skyscraper at 1 Bryant Park around 1 p.m. Wednesday, Deputy Fire Chief John Sudnik said. A Bank of America tower is under construction at the site, at West 42nd Street and Sixth Avenue.
"I heard this loud noise like a truck falling from the sky," said Gilberto Rios, a restaurant worker who was delivering an order to a nearby building.
"I looked up. The glass looked like snow. Everybody was screaming and running, and I started running with them," said Rios, who sprained an ankle and cut his hand when he fell in the confusion.
The crane appeared structurally sound, but the bucket hit a strut that held the crane to the building and bent it, authorities said. It wasn't clear what sent the bucket tumbling.
Those injured—four passers-by and four construction workers—suffered cuts and bruises, authorities said.
Windows on several floors of the tower were broken, and glass was strewn on the street. An inspection after the accident found other cracked panes of glass that had to be removed, Tishman spokesman Richard Keilar said Wednesday.
The surrounding area was closed to traffic during a nearly six-hour cleanup.
(© 2008 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)