At least six people were hurt when a construction crane caught fire in New York City on Wednesday morning and its arm crashed on to a street below.
Video of the incident showed flames in the cab of the crane hundreds of feet above 10th Avenue and 41st Street in Manhattan. The arm struck the top floor of an adjacent skyscraper as it fell, sending a shower of debris to the ground.
The incident happened shortly before 8am at a construction site for a new 50-story building close to the Port Authority bus terminal and entrance to the Lincoln tunnel carrying traffic under the Hudson River.
Surrounding streets in the Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood were closed to traffic, while firefighters tackled the fire with water hoses from a nearby rooftop. Buildings close to the site were evacuated.
Authorities said the injured included four civilians and two firefighters. None of the injuries are reported to be life threatening.
“This is a good morning, this could have been a lot worse,” said Joseph Pfeifer, the deputy commissioner of the city’s fire department, at a news conference.
The New York mayor, Eric Adams, advised people in a tweet to avoid the area as the city’s fire department dealt with the incident and paid tribute to the rescue services.
“Thanks to the rapid response and quick thinking of our firefighters and first responders, we were able to evacuate buildings and bring the fire that broke out on the crane under control,” Adams wrote. “Lives were saved and our streets are protected thanks to them.”
Associated Press contributed to this report
