A crane overturned yesterday morning on a construction site in Shiogama, Miyagi Prefecture, in Japan, killing one and injuring six others.
The incident occurred at the site of a new homeware store as construction workers were arriving for work with many of them sitting in their cars as they prepared for the day. The crane, a four-axle Kato Rough Terrain crane – possibly an 80 tonne SL-850RF – had, we understand, lifted a load from a waiting truck when it tipped over sideways with the boom falling across the parked cars.
The cause appears to be due to overloading or excessive side loading as the outriggers were fully set and only appear to have retracted as the crane went over. The crane’s boom nose landed directly on a van in which the deceased man, age 40, was sitting.
The six injured men were also sitting in their cars at the time and are aged from 20 to 50. All were taken to hospital, their condition is not yet known. The contractor is building on the site and an investigation is underway. The following video is in Japanese but shows some blurred CCTV footage of the incident.
