Three people miraculously avoided crushing to death after a construction crane collapsed into an intersection in the Bronx, a borough of New York City, smashing the roof of a car but only causing minor injuries.
Surveillance video from nearby shops caught the near-fatal accident that left one passerby holding his head in amazement after the crane boom and falling debris missed him completely.
The boom truck was bringing rebar to the construction site of an 11-story building at the corner of Bedford Park Boulevard and Villa Avenue when the crane lift came tumbling down into the roadway at about 10.30am.
A massive steal crane arm smashed down on a white two-door sedan that had stopped at a nearby light in the Bronx on Tuesday
Miraculously, the 22-year-old woman driving the car and her passenger were not seriously injured in the accident
The massive steel hydraulic lift landed on a white two-door sedan stopped at a light, crushing the roof and rocking the car back and forth.
A man carrying a small grocery bag who was passing at the time, ran for cover as the large yellow traffic signal came crashing down into the roadway along with other metal fragments that just missed him.
A frantic scene erupted afterward as good Samaritans and passersby surrounded the car, attempting to free the passenger and driver.
The Emergency Medical Technicians with the FDNY arrived a short time later and took the 22-year-old driver and passenger to Saint Barnabas Hospital were they were treated for minor injuries.
Construction workers and passersby rushed to aid the woman in the white sedan, center, after a crane arm came smashing down on it
The man in the white shirt, far right, was walking under the crane arm when it crumpled down in the roadway, narrowly missing him
The man holding the bag crossed Bedford Park Boulevard after the accident and kept walking.
The New York City Fire Department evacuated 29 construction workers from the project and the Department of Buildings shutdown work on the building while they investigate the accident.
‘Our preliminary investigation has determined that the boom truck was making a delivery, lifting a load of rebar from a trailer and on to the roof of the construction project, when the arm of the boom failed and collapsed on to the adjacent roadway,’ Department of Buildings spokesman Andrew Rudansky said.
The project has been cited for construction violations before
In late August, Classic Construction Group, of Bayside, Queens, received a summons for a shaky protective sidewalk shed and was fined $2400 by the New York City Department of Buildings. They have not paid the fine.