Crane collapses onto Liverpool apartment block

A 200ft tower crane has crashed through an apartment block in Liverpool in what has been described by Merseyside Fire and Rescue as a “major incident”.

The crane was in use on a Bowmer and Kirkland site on the outskirts of the city centre.

It crashed at 12:05pm on the Kings Dock Mill site, where the contractor is constructing a £28m hotel and apartment complex. 

A builder working on the site told the Liverpool Echo: “We heard a massive rumble which sounded like a plane taking off or a clap of thunder and we all turned round and watched as the crane fell into the building.”

Another eyewitness from the apartment block opposite said: “I watched in horror as a massive red crane tumbled into the apartment block.

I was in complete shock as all I could think of is what if it had fallen the other way and landed on me. I would surely have died as I am in the penthouse.”

In a statement Bowmer and Kirkland said: "There are two tower cranes in use on the site. The crane involved in the incident was undertaking a lifting operation well within its design capacity when witnesses report they heard two lound bangs, during which tower crane 2a was seen to bend and collapse on to the adjoining apartment building at Shaw's Alley, L1."

The operator escaped from his cab on to the roof of the apartment and was taken to hispital for treatment.

An investigation is ongoing.