Crane collapse in Abu Dhabi crushes several cars

Mobile crane keeled over when trying to remove tower crane, eyewitnesses said

A crane crushed several cars in the Tourist Club area when it collapsed. Photo Courtesy: Abu Dhabi Police

A crane collapsed in Abu Dhabi on Monday, smashing into seven cars.

The incident happened when a small mobile crane was dismantling a piece of a larger tower crane, two people at the scene said.

The piece, known as a boom, was too heavy for the smaller mobile crane to lift and it keeled over.

The two, who did not wish to be identified, said that it fell to the left, crashing into the parked cars.

The duo were working in a nearby building and arrived shortly after the incident took place.

Abu Dhabi Civil Defence on Tuesday said there were no injuries.

The incident took place at about 8.30am on Monday at a tower block that’s under construction in the Al Zahiyah area. The area was formerly known as Tourist Club and the tower block is adjacent to Al Salama Hospital.

Police and medics arrived at the scene swiftly and the mobile crane was later removed. As of 3.30pm on Tuesday, two of damaged cars were still at the scene.

The windscreens were shattered, with significant damage to the bonnets, engines and roofs, while the rear windshield of one of the cars had also been destroyed. The concrete had also been stained with leaked diesel from the crane that keeled over and parts of the larger tower crane were visible on the ground behind construction hoardings.

Police posted a photo of the aftermath of the crash on their social media accounts.

Brig Gen Mohammed Al Ketbi, general manager of the Abu Dhabi Civil Defence, urged construction companies and consultants to ensure safety for workers and to properly maintain cranes at all times.

Metac is the construction contractor on the building but an official at the site on Tuesday said that a different company was responsible for dismantling and moving cranes.

Work was continuing as normal at the site when The National visited on Tuesday afternoon.

Separately, one person died after a crane collapsed in Sharjah on Saturday. Police are investigating the incident.

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