London crane collapse: One person dead and four injured after two houses hit in Bow
One person has died and four others have been injured after a crane collapsed into houses in east London.
London Fire Brigade (LFB) said they were conducting a "complex rescue operation" on Wednesday afternoon after a 20-metre crane fell into a block of flats under development and two terraced houses on Compton Close in Bow.
Four people were treated for injuries following the collapse and one person died at the scene, London Ambulance Service said.
"We treated four people at the scene. We treated two of these patients for head injuries and took them to hospital and we assessed the other two patients at the scene," a statement said.
"Sadly, despite the efforts of emergency services, a fifth person was found and died at the scene."
Crane behind my building just collapsed in Bow, London. At least one man crushed, crane went through 2 house. pic.twitter.com/pOBF4LcZmc
— Bridget Teirney (@bteirney)
Footage on social media shows a house with part of the roof caved in.
LFB said a crane had collapsed on a building site in Bow, also falling onto two adjacent houses. They were called just after 2.30pm on Wednesday.
Assistant commissioner Graham Ellis said: "Our Urban Search and Rescue crews are undertaking a complex rescue operation and using specialist equipment to search the properties.
"This is a multi-agency response and is likely to be a protracted incident. I would ask people to avoid the area."
The Met Police said officers were called at around 2.39pm on Wednesday to Gale Street to a report that a crane had collapsed into a residential property and a building site.
London Ambulance Service said it had a number of crews and a team of specialist paramedics who work in hazardous environments at the scene, with the first medics arriving in three minutes.
#Bow crane collapse update: We're carrying out a complex search & rescue operation. It is likely to be a protracted incident https://t.co/QlmufvnRyR pic.twitter.com/XrTAyXqz3L
— London Fire Brigade (@LondonFire)
Neil Marney, chief executive of Marney Construction, said it was not one of his company's cranes that had collapsed nor was it a crane on one of his sites.
But he said he could see the crane being erected on Tuesday from the site he was working on, said: "My project manager on the site called me immediately and said the crane you were looking at yesterday being erected has just collapsed.
"So all I could see yesterday was the mast and the cab was on, and then I believe they started to add sections of the boom."
Additional reporting by Press Association
