Two cranes being used in the restoration of a bridge in a central Dutch city have fallen onto a row of buildings, flattening apartments and small shops. Local media reported up to 20 people were injured. In video shot by a witness, a woman screams as the cranes and bridge section topple over and land on a row of homes, apparently crushing them. Mr Koot said he did not know how seriously injured the victims were.
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The couple of huge All Terrain cranes were actually conjunction leveraging the primary herbal wood deck part of the Juliana Bridge – which forms part of the fix – into its position coming from a barge inside of the tube.
NOS said the cranes fell on a secondhand clothing store and another shop selling art and drawing supplies, but it was unclear how many people were inside at the time.
Dutch broadcaster NOS aired amateur footage of the incident, showing the cranes crash onto houses and sending a cloud of dust into the air.
“You see the cloud of dust rise – that is a bad image and you think, ‘Who is under there?’ You can’t believe what you see”, he said.
Police are urging people to stay away from the scene to allow rescuers to carry out their work, with sniffer dogs being drafted in to check the rubble for survivors.
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Accident investigators are also at the scene to begin their investigation.
