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East Midtown Crane Collapses Kills 4, Injures Many, Others Missing

Photograph from East 51st Street by gattogrosso212 at flickr

Image from NY1

A huge crane toppled off of high-rise building under construction around 2:15 p.m. this afternoon and crashed into another skyscraper. According to initial reports, the incident occurred near 2nd Ave. as the crane toppled backwards from 51st St. into another building at 305 East 50th St. in Manhattan. NY1 spoke to residents who could see the incident from their 80th floor apartment on East 48th Street; they said the crane hit at least two building.

Two people are declared dead, with another likely to die. A total of eight civilians have been reported missing in the disaster, which has reached a 4-alarm level.

According to NY1, the crane crushed a building that housed the ironically named FUBAR, which was closed at the time, but other people may have been inside residential units in the building.

One tipster who was dining across the street, left the restaurant when debris fell into the establishment's patio. He said he saw a "huge plume of dust and debris" that blocked visibility in the street.

 

Part of the crane is said to have leveled a building that housed the bar "Fubar" on its first floor. Luckily, the bar was closed at the time, but the other floors may be inhabited.

Reader John sent us the image at right, of East 50th Street. He said one person was inside Fubar. From the images on NY1, it looks like the building was leveled.

 

Image from WABC 7

It's unclear whether the crane was in use or if it just fell.

Photo by Robert White at WNBC.com

There are reports of gas odor and Con Ed is moving to shut utilities.

UPDATE 4:01 p.m.: We're hearing that a total of four people are dead and two more are likely to die. There are many injuries.

It appears the crane was on the north side of East 51st Street, it fell south, hitting a building on the south side of East 51st and seems to have broken, with another piece falling onto the building on the north side of East 50th.

A devastated-sounding NY1 viewer who lives in the area described the building as falling "like a house of cards."

The address of the construction site where the crane was situated has not been confirmed, but it looks like it's a planned 40+ story building at 303 East 51st Street. While there are no Department of Buildings complaints for 303 East 51st Street or 307 East 51st Street, for 305 East 51st Street, there are many complaints, including this one from January 15, 2008:
"CLR STS SITE UNSAFE CLR STS THAT CRANE SWIGING ABOUT 20 FEET AWAY FROM WINDOW CLR STS THAT CRANE CAN BEEN CLOSE SHE WOULD LIKE INSPECT TO HAVE THEM CLOSE"

Many people are remarking about how the neighborhood was filled with people celebrating St. Patrick's Day early - and this stretch of 2nd Avenue has many bars.