A crane collapsed Wednesday morning in Austin, Texas. The construction crane collapsed causing injury to twenty-two people according to news reports. Of the twenty-two injured workers, sixteen people were taken to St. David’s Hospital in Austin. Currently, it is reported that all injured workers sustained non-life-threatening injuries. Everyone reportedly injured was on the construction site at the time of the incident.
The incident occurred at the 1600 block of Robert Browning Street. The construction site is a mixed-use development, including an office building and parking garage. The work site is reported to be the Mueller Parking Garage, under construction by the company Cadence McShane. Initial reports were of a collapsed crane, although later reports clarified that two cranes collided, causing one to partially collapse. The cranes were separated just before 6 p.m. on Wednesday.
Austin Fire Department has reported that currently no one is trapped by the partially collapsed crane. Battalion Chief Mark Bridges stated that “This just happened to be two cranes working, we’re not sure how or why, but they did get entangled. We are doing our best to monitor the scene.”
Unfortunately, Texas leads the nation in crane fatalities according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Between 2011 and 2015, there were over 40 crane fatalities reported for Texas.
If you or someone you know has been injured by a crane or any heavy equipment, contact an attorney at Abraham, Watkins, Nichols, Agosto, Aziz & Stogner by calling (713) 222-7211 or toll free at 713-222-7211.