Shocking moment burning NYC crane collapses onto street: video

July 26, 2023

Dramatic footage captures the moment the Manhattan construction crane buckled under the intense flames as a plume of black smoke could be seen billowing out of the machine near Hudson Yards.

The crane, stationed 45 stories high at 550 10th Avenue. falls forward, striking a building across the street and shattering parts of itself and sending debris flying below.

The machine is then sent swinging back to the building it was stationed on, slamming into its own tower as even more debris flies off.

The force of the impact appears to be all the machine can withstand as the last cords binding it to the base snap off, and the crane then plummets to the ground.

The footage also shows pedestrians quickly fleeing the scene as they turn back when the crane hits the streets.

The fire broke out Wednesday morning when the crane was stationed 45 stories high on a vacant building at 550 10th Avenue.

A construction crane's tethers snapped due to a fire, causing the machine to slam against a building across the street. — A construction crane’s tethers snapped due to a fire, causing the machine to slam against a building across the street.

Six people, including two firefighters, were injured when a burning crane crashed down. Despite the harrowing scene, those caught by the falling debris only suffered minor, non-life-threatening injuries, authorities said.

At least three were hospitalized, and one of the firefighters injured was experiencing chest pains, FDNY First Deputy Fire Commissioner Joseph Pfeifer said.

“You see the debris on the street, this could have been much worse. We were fortunate that this was not a busy time of day,” Mayor Adams told reporters at the scene.

The disaster left six people injured, with three hospitalized.

Given the debris that was sent plummeting to the street, officials said it was miraculous no one died.

Firefighters were able to extinguish the blaze by 9:30 a.m.

Officials confirmed that the crane operator was in the machine when it went up in flames, but was unable to put the fire out and escaped without injury.

The FDNY managed to extinguish the flames, which grew to a five-alarm fire, by around 9:30 a.m.

The cause of the fire is still not clear, authorities said.