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COPYRIGHT 2008 Voxant, Inc.
Original Source: CNN NEWSROOM
ROB MARCIANO, CNN ANCHOR: They're a fixture of New York's building boom. But for the second time in two and a half months, a construction crane has been the cause of destruction and death.
We're live on Manhattan's Upper East Side.
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: The sky-high oil price? Well, it's a hardship for millions, but a windfall for some. But is it a crime? Federal investigators aim to find out.
Hello, everybody, on this Friday. I'm Betty Nguyen, here at CNN world headquarters in Atlanta.
MARCIANO: And I'm Rob Marciano.
You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.
This is what crews are dealing with in New York City right now, the wreckage of a huge construction crane. It came down during the morning rush hour on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. At least one person is dead, two critically hurt.
CNN's Jason Carroll is following the story for us in New York.
Hello again, Jason.
JASON CARROLL, CNN ANCHOR: Hello to you, Rob.
A lot of questions being asked, given the history of what's happened here. Just two and a half months ago, we saw a deadly crane accident on the Upper East Side, and once again this morning, another one.
Take a look at where it happened. That is the crane in question. On top of that crane there used to be a cab, what they call a cab on top of it, about the size of a small fire truck. It, for some reason, fell off, and fell on to the building next to it. And as it fell to the ground, it sheared off a side of it.
According to what we've learned, the site of this construction site has had several past violations, including working without a permit, moving a hoist without a permit. Even so, a little earlier today, New York City's mayor, along with the acting building commissioner, stood side by side and said this crane was inspected and it was in compliance.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAYOR MICHAEL BLOOMBERG (I), NEW YORK: The first examination of the records say that this crane was inspected and was installed and stepped in compliance with regulations, with building inspectors there. So we don't know why the top just snapped off.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CARROLL: And Rob, just want to recap a little bit of what happened out here this morning. It was just after 8:00 a.m. I spoke to two construction workers who were here when it all happened. One was on the six account floor, one was on the 11th floor.
Both of them say everything seemed to be fine. Nothing was out of order, when all of a sudden they heard a very loud noise, looked up, and saw that cab fall off the top of that crane.
Also want you to listen to an interview that was done with a woman who was inside that building that the crane fell on.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ASIA GIBSON, WITNESS, CONSTRUCTION WORKER: I heard the crane snap like a toothpick, and it started to pull away from the building. It fell back, it hit the penthouse, fell, hit it again, and then just came straight down into the street.
CARROLL: What do you think could have caused something like this to happen?
GIBSON: Like I said, we really don't know, because as far as -- we had inspectors from every local come check it out. We had building inspectors that were on site every day. They told us what they liked, what they didn't like.
We complied with them 100 percent. That's why the job was never shut down.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was actually asleep and heard like a loud noise, and the building really shook a lot. And I kind of -- my roommate and I shot up out of bed. And I ran to the window and there was smoke and tons of debris falling everywhere. Then we just ran outside.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And what was -- what went through your mind when all of this happened?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I initially thought it was like a bomb or something. I mean, it was just like (INAUDIBLE). That's kind of the first thing I thought. She knew, she said, that it was a crane.
(END VIDEO CLIP) CARROLL: And now, Rob, come the questions. Just two and a half months ago, we saw another deadly crane accident. Seven people were killed in that accident, 24 people were hurt.
That investigation still pending. Now we have another investigation this morning. One person killed, two people, also construction workers, seriously injured.
Now come the questions of this crane accident. Was it human error, was it mechanical error? These are some of the things that investigators are going to be looking at as they move forward -- Rob.
MARCIANO: What a frightening, frightening experience that must have been for those people.
Jason Carroll reporting live for us from the Upper East Side.
Thank you, Jason.
NGUYEN: Well, another frightening experience we want to tell you about, a plane crash in Honduras.
The Grupo TACA airplane, one of those overshot the runway in the Honduran capital. And we are being told right now that at least one person is dead as a result of this plane crash.
The reports say Flight 390 was arriving from El Salvador. It ended up stopping on a nearby street. You see it right here. It looks even in a neighborhood.
Again, overshot the runway, landed on a street in this neighborhood. You see some people coming out of the plane there, but we are told at least one person is dead and there are some injuries. We don't know the extent of those injuries, but obviously crews are on the ground, as well as firefighters.
So we'll continue to follow this story and bring you the latest just as soon as we get it.
MARCIANO: Movement today in the case...
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