There was a major interruption at an Amazon warehouse in Massachusetts during the morning of October 10. Shortly before 9 a.m., a crane fell over and crashed onto the distribution warehouse.
In the photo above, you can see where the base of the crane had tipped onto its side and landed on the roof. Amazon said in a statement that no employees were injured.
The building was evacuated, and workers who had not yet arrived were told to stay home. Emergency responders from the local fire department quickly arrived on scene. Officials from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration were also on scene to investigate what caused the crane to crash.
The warehouse is located in Stoughton, which is about 20 miles south of Boston. Amazon has approximately 70 full-time employees at the site, according to the Boston Business Journal. The company told the newspaper that it has “hundreds” of part-time workers at this site as well. The Amazon building, located at 1000 Technology Center Drive, used to belong to shoe and apparel company Reebok.
Police and fire officials have not commented on what caused the crane to collapse.
Crane collapses can be very dangerous. In February of 2016, a man was killed and three others were injured when a nearly 600-foot long crane crashed in downtown Manhattan. 38-year-old David Wichs was walking to his job when he was pinned to the ground by the falling structure. Officers said he was killed instantly.
The dramatic moment the crane tipped over was captured on video from a high-rise building. Witnessed described the moment the crane collapsed as feeling like an earthquake.
An investigation determined that the crane operator was responsible for the incident. Officials said the crane had not been secured the night before, and was resting at an improper angle. This had made it unstable.
In April of 2018, a crane slammed into a construction site in St. Petersburg, Florida. It happened at the site of a new police headquarters. Construction workers were able to get out of the way and no one was injured.