Findings in April's crane collapse lead to heightened concerns of crane operations industry wide

Findings in April's crane collapse lead to heightened concerns of crane operations industry wide

SEATTLE - When the tower crane in South Lake Union collapsed and killed four people it was shocking.On Thursday, state investigators with the Department of Labor & Industries released their findings of what exactly went wrong, but they also said that unsafe practices of disassembling tower cranes may be going on industry-wide.Tower cranes are a sign of growth in any city.For years, Seattle was leading the nation when it comes to the number of construction cranes.Currently, Washington has 120 tower cranes, half of those in the city of Seattle.With that in mind, what state investigators are now saying about the industry is disturbing.“They weren’t really trained or aware of what they should be doing."Three companies have now been fined for the April 27 deadly crane collapse in South Lake Union.“What crews were supposed to do was take it down section by section from top to bottom with the help of an assist crane."But what happened was that they took almost all the pins out that was holding the vertical mast together all at once.

Washington state clears 1 company in fatal crane collapse

Washington state clears 1 company in fatal crane collapse

SEATTLE — Washington state has cleared one of five companies being investigated for a construction accident that killed four people.The Seattle Times reported Monday that the state Department of Labor and Industries said Monday it has closed its investigation into Seaburg Construction without finding any violations.A tower crane collapsed in late April at the South Lake Union construction project in Seattle and struck six vehicles.

Man's family plans to sue after deadly crane collapse

Man's family plans to sue after deadly crane collapse

SEATTLE -- The family of a man killed in last weekend's crane collapse in South Lake Union plans to sue.Alan Justad, 71, and three others died when a crane toppled onto Mercer Street last Saturday.

Experts: Missing pins possibly caused Seattle crane collapse

Experts: Missing pins possibly caused Seattle crane collapse

It appears workers who were disassembling a construction crane had prematurely removed pins securing the sections of the crane's mast to each other, and that could explain why it toppled Saturday, killing four people, experts said.

What's next in state's investigation into deadly crane collapse?

What's next in state's investigation into deadly crane collapse?

SEATTLE -- Seattle has more tower cranes than any other city in the country.That fact alone has many in the city asking: What went wrong on Saturday?State Labor and Industries investigators will look closely at the video that captured a crane Saturday crashing into Google's new campus.

SPU student among those killed in Seattle crane collapse

SPU student among those killed in Seattle crane collapse

SEATTLE (AP) — Officials on Monday are expected to release the identities of the four people killed when a construction crane fell from a Seattle building.The King County Medical Examiner's office has said it would release the names of the female and three males who died Saturday afternoon when the crane crashed onto one of Seattle's busiest streets.On Sunday, Seattle Pacific University said in a statement that a freshman student was among those killed when the crane fell from a building under construction on Google's new Seattle campus onto Mercer Street.