Dangerous inclined position: Crane suddenly tips over - worker has to jump
Antofagasta (Chile) - A precarious tilt. A camera filmed the moment when a crane tipped over in the port of Antofagasta (Chile) and buried a pier underneath it. The crane operator was extremely lucky - he was able to save himself at the last second.
It could have turned out really badly.
Many a dock worker will remember the incident last Tuesday with horror. A serious incident occurred at a construction site in the port of Antofagasta (northern Chile), reports"ADN-Radio".
A video shows the incident: a crawler crane was hoisting an enormous metal part when the machine suddenly tilted forward and remained in a precarious inclined position for a fraction of a second.
Frightened construction workers scramble to safety, while others desperately try to warn the crane operator. At the last second, the man jumps from the driver's cab and runs away. Everything collapses behind him. The colossus, weighing several tons, crashes onto the construction site and buries the port pier underneath it.
According to the port operator, fortunately no one was injured in the incident. The construction work was interrupted.
Crawler crane collapses - crane operator has to jump
Crane accident in the port of Antofagasta: Was it negligence?
Whether the construction element was too heavy for the crane and whether regulations were disregarded as a result is now to be investigated.
Crane accidents also happen with sad regularity in Germany.
At the beginning of September, a 30-metre construction crane fell onto a bridge at the Bleilochtalsperre dam in Thuringia, burying a 60-year-old construction worker underneath it - the man died.
In June 2022, a crane collapsed on a shopping street in Dresden city center and sent debris raining down on stores. Miraculously, no one was injured in the accident.