02.03.2007

Petersburg crane was being dismantled

Information is emerging on the cause of the self erecting tower crane that collapsed on Tuesday in St Petersburg.

It seems that the job was complete and the crane was read to be dismantled, several local reports say that a section of the rails on which the crane was based, were removed including the stops.

The crane operator then inadvertently ran the crane off of the end of the tracks causing it to topple over.

The contractor - Energomashstroy has generally refused to comment, however Vasily Biryukov, who heads the company is quoted in the local media as saying

“In December of 2006 we received all the necessary permits from City Hall and were working lawfully. The building was almost ready and the crane was in the process of being dismantled,”

This was in reaction to a statement from St Petersburg’s Governor Valentina Matviyenko, who said that the developer was clearly responsible for the tragedy and that "it will have to fully compensate the victims and cover all the other costs,”

The operator, aged 30, was one of the three people admitted to hospital after the accident in which three died. His injuries are said to be light. One of the other victims, a 19 year old boy has had part of his foot amputated.
See original report –updated