ABU DHABI // A mobile crane collapsed onto a building on Sunday morning, shattering windows and waking residents in the surrounding area.
The crane, which belonged to Suwadi and Shams Contracting company, fell shortly before 9am near the junction of Sheikh Zayed and Hamdan streets, the same location where a mobile crane collapsed over a street in 2011.
Mohammed Salem, head of the communications department of Suwadi and Shams Contracting said although his company was still awaiting the outcome of the Abu Dhabi Police investigation, the accident was something that could happen to any company and was not completely out of the norm.
“We were sleeping and suddenly there was a big sound and the whole building shook,” said Nilima, who felt the effect from her apartment on the third floor of the affected building.
“The kids started crying and I was so scared. We have been gathered together since but I feel so lucky,” said the Indian who has lived in the building for over a year with her husband and two children aged two and five.
As well as damaging the adjacent building, the crane also crushed an office trailer on the nearby building site and fell onto a pedestrian path between the site and the building it collapsed into.
“It was unbelievable no pedestrians were hurt,” said Koshori Sheddy, a restaurant employee who was working in a storage facility on the ground floor of the same building.
“A lot of people use this pathway and on Friday we have a lot of traffic coming through it,” said Mr Sheddy who has worked near the site for six months.
Labourers, who have been working on the site for two weeks, said no workers were injured and that the engineers were fortunate they arrived to work late and were not in the office trailers.
The effect of the crane’s fall was so loud it was heard in a building across the street.
Precilla Goosen said she had grown accustomed to the sounds of construction but heard something markedly different on Sunday morning.
“I knew instantly something had happened when I heard the noise,” said the South African freelance photographer.
When she rushed to the balcony of the her 12th floor apartment facing the construction site Ms Goosen could see the crane had toppled.
“It seemed like the crane was top heavy and facing the wrong way,” said Ms Goosen who has worked as head of safety and security for a hotel group in South Africa in the past.
“Occupational safety is very important, especially when working in such a cramped site such as this one,” she said.
Abu Dhabi Municipality investigations showed safety violations, including defective equipment and inadequate supervision, were to blame for the 2011 crane collapse in same area.
Although all construction or demolition site accidents must be reported to Abu Dhabi Municipality’s health, safety and environment department, the department’s head, Abdulaziz Zurub, said they had not yet received notification of Sunday’s incident by 5pm.
“Although these accidents rarely happen sometimes the negligence and inexperience of mobile crane operators can lead to an unbalanced crane,” he said.
Safeguards against crane accidents have been implemented since the 2011 incident which include regulations on lifting equipment inspections conducted by third parties, municipal regulations requiring all equipment operators receive some qualification training, and daily inspections of building sites by municipal workers.
“We are constantly monitoring building sites as well as reviewing the third parties inspecting them. We now have a total of 33 companies after removing 6 from the list which did not meet our standards,” said Mr Zurub.
talsubaihi@thenational.ae
ODI FIXTURE SCHEDULE
First ODI, October 22
Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai
Second ODI, October 25
Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Pune
Third ODI, October 29
Venue TBC
Teaching in coronavirus times
Company%20Profile
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Israel Palestine on Swedish TV 1958-1989
Director: Goran Hugo Olsson
Rating: 5/5
How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
Thor%3A%20Love%20and%20Thunder%20
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The specs: 2018 Ford F-150
Price, base / as tested: Dh173,250 / Dh178,500
Engine: 5.0-litre V8
Power: 395hp @ 5,000rpm
Torque: 555Nm @ 2,750rpm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Fuel consumption, combined: 12.4L / 100km
Company%20Profile
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Company%20Profile
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ABU%20DHABI'S%20KEY%20TOURISM%20GOALS%3A%20BY%20THE%20NUMBERS
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Mia Man’s tips for fermentation
- Start with a simple recipe such as yogurt or sauerkraut
- Keep your hands and kitchen tools clean. Sanitize knives, cutting boards, tongs and storage jars with boiling water before you start.
- Mold is bad: the colour pink is a sign of mold. If yogurt turns pink as it ferments, you need to discard it and start again. For kraut, if you remove the top leaves and see any sign of mold, you should discard the batch.
- Always use clean, closed, airtight lids and containers such as mason jars when fermenting yogurt and kraut. Keep the lid closed to prevent insects and contaminants from getting in.
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Company%20profile
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TRAP
Starring: Josh Hartnett, Saleka Shyamalan, Ariel Donaghue
Director: M Night Shyamalan
Rating: 3/5
The biog
Born: near Sialkot, Pakistan, 1981
Profession: Driver
Family: wife, son (11), daughter (8)
Favourite drink: chai karak
Favourite place in Dubai: The neighbourhood of Khawaneej. “When I see the old houses over there, near the date palms, I can be reminded of my old times. If I don’t go down I cannot recall my old times.”
The specs
Engine: Long-range single or dual motor with 200kW or 400kW battery
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Max touring range: 620km / 590km
Price: From Dh250,000 (estimated)
The low down
Producers: Uniglobe Entertainment & Vision Films
Director: Namrata Singh Gujral
Cast: Rajkummar Rao, Nargis Fakhri, Bo Derek, Candy Clark
Rating: 2/5
One in four Americans don't plan to retire
Nearly a quarter of Americans say they never plan to retire, according to a poll that suggests a disconnection between individuals' retirement plans and the realities of ageing in the workforce.
Experts say illness, injury, layoffs and caregiving responsibilities often force older workers to leave their jobs sooner than they'd like.
According to the poll from The Associated Press-NORC Centre for Public Affairs Research, 23 per cent of workers, including nearly two in 10 of those over 50, don't expect to stop working. Roughly another quarter of Americans say they will continue working beyond their 65th birthday.
According to government data, about one in five people 65 and older was working or actively looking for a job in June. The study surveyed 1,423 adults in February this year.
For many, money has a lot to do with the decision to keep working.
"The average retirement age that we see in the data has gone up a little bit, but it hasn't gone up that much," says Anqi Chen, assistant director of savings research at the Centre for Retirement Research at Boston College. "So people have to live in retirement much longer, and they may not have enough assets to support themselves in retirement."
When asked how financially comfortable they feel about retirement, 14 per cent of Americans under the age of 50 and 29 per cent over 50 say they feel extremely or very prepared, according to the poll. About another four in 10 older adults say they do feel somewhat prepared, while just about one-third feel unprepared.
"One of the things about thinking about never retiring is that you didn't save a whole lot of money," says Ronni Bennett, 78, who was pushed out of her job as a New York City-based website editor at 63.
She searched for work in the immediate aftermath of her layoff, a process she describes as akin to "banging my head against a wall." Finding Manhattan too expensive without a steady stream of income, she eventually moved to Portland, Maine. A few years later, she moved again, to Lake Oswego, Oregon. "Sometimes I fantasise that if I win the lottery, I'd go back to New York," says Ms Bennett.