Crane collapses on building under construction in Utrecht; 2 hurt

Two people got hurt in an accident involving a crane on Maliebaan in Utrecht on Monday. The crane’s jib collapsed and crashed through a building under construction. The two victims got trapped and had to be freed by the fire department.

“They have been freed and are being examined by the ambulance service employees and taken to hospital. We are now looking at how the crane can be salvaged,” the local safety office, Veiligheidsregio Utrecht, said on Twitter. The victims’ condition is unknown, but they "are doing well under the circumstances."

The incident happened just before 12:45 p.m. Photographs sent to RTV Utrecht show the tower crane’s jib bent in the middle and collapsing through the roof of the building below the crane. According to the broadcaster, the jib collapsed under the weight of a concrete slab it was moving.

Emergency services responded in large numbers. Firefighters, police, paramedics, and a trauma team in a helicopter were all dispatched to the scene.

The Labor Inspectorate and the Building and Housing Inspectorate are investigating how to salvage the crane and make the building stable again, the Veiligheidsregio said.

#maliebaan - veel hulpdiensten + 3 helicopters. Trauma helicopter is geland pic.twitter.com/20BdhrubpD

— Dirk (@Dikdik_72) December 12, 2022