Crane topples over
A CRANE which toppled over and crashed onto a building site in Hinckley may have done so because of poor ground conditions, the operator has said.
The large crane tipped over while carrying wooden roof beams and landed on a property it was building on St George’s Avenue on Friday morning.
Eyewitnesses described the sound of “a bomb going off” when it smashed into the house and said it was a “miracle” nobody was injured.
The crane was fully extended at the time of the incident and the end landed in a neighbour’s back garden on Orkney Close - reportedly near a children’s trampoline.
It also ripped a telephone cable from the home next door and damaged a few tiles on the roof.
Neighbour Jennifer Paterson, who lives opposite the building site, said: “I was just putting something in the fridge when I hard this really loud crash - I thought a bomb had gone off.
“I rushed to look out my window and I saw the crane had fallen over and everybody started to panic.
“I went out to see if I could help but nobody was injured.
“The cab driver was very shaken by what happened but somehow he wasn’t hurt.
“I heard him say he spent nine months in Afghanistan and this scared him more than that.
“Luckily it landed on the house they were building and the petrol tank wasn’t damaged.”
James Faithfull, whose property next door was damaged, said: “It’s a miracle nobody was killed.
“I just heard a mighty crash and saw it topple over.
“My house has some minor damage, but it could have been much, much worse.
“The end of the crane landed in the garden of one of the houses at the back of mine, near a trampoline.”
It is understood the crane had to be chopped up and lifted off the house by two larger cranes.
But this took many hours and it was not fully removed until the 10.30pm the following day.
Crane operators Quinto said a full investigation is underway.
Harriett Lincoln, HR manager, said: “We can confirm a Quinto crane overturned Friday October 14 on a building site in Hinckley.
“The crane was working under CPA terms and was operating within its duty capacity.
“No one was injured in the incident.
“A recovery crew were despatched straight away to the scene and were there again Saturday recovering the crane.
“We would like to thank the surrounding neighbours for their patience and support for the crane operator.
“It looks as though ground conditions were a major factor and a full investigation is currently in operation.”
Leicestershire County Council Highways closed the road from 2pm on Friday until the road was clear of debris on Sunday morning.
A spokeswoman said parts of the pavement have been damaged and they will be repaired in “due course”.