Crane collapse in Dallas kills 1, injures 5

DALLAS — A construction crane buffeted by high winds during a storm collapsed on a Dallas apartment building Sunday, killing one woman in the building and injuring at least five more people, two of them critically, a fire official said.

Crews searching the Elan City Lights building found the body of a woman inside after the crane toppled and ripped a large gash into the side of the five-story structure, Dallas Fire-Rescue spokesman Jason Evans said.

Of those injured, two were listed in critical condition, two had suffered serious injuries and one suffered minor injuries and was later discharged from a hospital, Evans said.

First responders searched every apartment they could reach and found no other victims, Evans said. He also said that every resident of an apartment damaged by the crane was either out at the time or was among those taken to hospitals.

Crews were called to the site of the collapse just before 2 p.m., after the National Weather Service issued a severe thunderstorm watch for the Dallas/Fort Worth area and warned of winds up to 70 mph. Evans said the reason the crane fell is unknown but there is a “strong possibility” that the winds “played some role in the collapse.”

Across Dallas the storm toppled trees and knocked out power.

Isaiah Allen told the Dallas Morning News he was in his apartment when he heard what he thought was a deafening thunderclap. “I saw that the crane had actually fell straight through the building and had destroyed a good eight to 10 apartments and so there’s like floors and stuff falling through,” he said.