Two cranes collide at Austin construction site, sending at least 16 people to the hospital

AUSTIN, Texas – Two cranes in collided Wednesday morning a few miles north of downtown Austin, sending more than a dozen people to the hospital, medics said.

Footage posted by TV station KVUE showed two cranes tangled several stories above a building under construction in a rapidly growing neighborhood that includes residential, retail and office space.

Austin-Travis County EMS spokesman Darren Noak said at a news conference that 22 workers were hurt, including 16 who were taken to hospitals with non-life-threatening injuries. Medics responded at 9:38 a.m. local time to the scene on Robert Browning Street near Dell Children’s Medical Center.

One of the crane operators was still inside the crane cabin more than an hour after the incident, though it did not appear to be damaged. Authorities said the operator was safe and that they were working to get him down.

"He's fine," Fire Department Capt. Mark Bridge said. "There's not danger to him."

Diane Stewart, a nearby resident of Mueller, is used to the occasional construction noise coming from the site near her apartment. But on Wednesday, she heard something that made her pause.

“It sounded like pipes falling. It was a loud crash, it made me turn,” Stewart said.

She was walking to Mueller Lake Park with her bird-watching binoculars around 9:30 a.m. when she heard the cranes crash.

Stewart said she is used to hearing bangs or cement trucks from the construction site, but what she heard Wednesday morning sounded like a car crash.

“It was just crazy,” Stewart said. “First responders got here so fast. Kudos to them, man.”

Contributing: Associated Press

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This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Austin crane collision leaves at least 20 injured, medics in Texas say