2nd Confirmed Death in NYC Crane Collapse

May 30, 2008 — -- A second person has died after this morning's crane collapse in New York City, the police department confirmed to ABC News.

Construction worker Ramadan Kurtaj, 27, and crane operator Donald Leo, 30, were both killed when a building crane toppled onto a New York City street this morning, ripping open the side of a 23-story apartment high-rise.

Kurtaj died of cardiac arrest at New York Presbyterian Hospital, police said, while Leo died at the scene.

Authorities earlier in the day had confirmed Leo's death, but said that a second construction worker had suffered life-threatening injuries that required immediate surgery. A third worker was in critical condition and one person on the ground sustained minor injuries, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced during a news conference at the collapse site.

The fatal accident comes less than three months after a crane collapse in the city's Midtown section killed six construction workers and a tourist visiting the city.

"What has happened is unacceptable and intolerable," Bloomberg said. "Having said that, we cannot say exactly what happened or why."

The crane collapsed around 8 a.m. at East 91st Street and First Avenue, crashing more than a dozen stories to the ground, swiping the balconies on a high-rise apartment and leaving a twisted pile of crane and apartment wreckage.

The crane, which was erected in April, was inspected by city building officials Thursday after a complaint about materials being hoisted precariously over the sidewalk. The complaint was under investigation and no citation had been issued, Robert LiMandri, the city's acting building commissioner, said during the news conference. Construction at the work site had been stopped by inspectors at least once, LiMandri said, and several complaints -- some involving the improper use of cranes -- are listed on the New York City Department of Buildings Web site.

Bloomberg said that seven buildings have been evacuated as a precaution, in part because the top section of the crane involved in the accident remained standing and its stability was unclear. The apartments on the top floors of the damaged high-rise were being searched for additional victims, but authorities did not believe any of the residents were injured. "There obviously was damage to the apartments, but there was apparently no one injured in that apartment building," Bloomberg said.

Jacob Kriegler, a resident on the eighth floor of the building struck by the collapsing crane, was getting changed when he heard a crash and felt the building shake.

"There was water coming out of the building and a small fire near the mass where the crane collapsed," Kriegler told ABC News. "The most fascinating thing was seeing the looks on the construction workers faces."

From his balcony, he could see debris below and damage to the penthouse units above.

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Some of the construction workers started to wave at residents to get them out of his building, Kriegler said. He says it is not clear if he would be able to stay in his apartment this weekend, but that he had been told residents would be able to go into the building some time today to pick up some belongings.