Tower collapse injures six

On Thursday 18 January, a Peiner SK415 20t saddle-jib tower crane rigged 63m (206ft) high blew down on top of a building at the University of Utrecht, the Netherlands, injuring six. Two were hospitalised for non-critical injuries.

The crane was put out of service at the time, and there were few workers on the student housing project site because of the windy conditions, said a spokesman for BAM, the construction contractor that owned the crane.

“Royal BAM and several external organisations are now researching the cause of the accident,” the company said in a statement.

The company owns a fleet of about 60 tower cranes.

Liebherr confirmed that a crane operator was killed in Poland in an accident involving a Liebherr EC 90 in Katowice, southern Poland, operated by Streif Baulogistik, though there was some doubt about whether the wind caused the accident, according to a company spokesman.

More than 20 people died in the storms, according to BBC News.