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.

The crane was working on the Azure, a 32-story luxury apartment building under construction by developer 1765 First Associates. When Kriegler moved into his apartment in July 2007, he said, "it was just a pile of dirt." He estimated that the project has currently reached about 10 stories and that the crane that collapsed was "impossible not to notice."

The accident occurred less then three months after another construction crane fell in Manhattan, killing seven and demolishing a townhouse.

Patricia Lancaster, the city's building inspector, resigned under fire from Bloomberg -- as well as city residents -- for a spike in the number of construction-related fatalities.

Scott Stringer, the Manhattan Borough president, told ABC News that he is stunned.

"I am at a loss for the fact that we have just utterly failed to get our arms around a safety regimen the protects people in this borough."

City crane inspector Edward Marquette was arrested for allegedly falsifying an inspection of the crane 11 days before the March collapse. Marquette has not responded to the complaint.

Before the press conference, Bloomberg commented on the latest crane accident as he watched the live video footage during his morning radio show today. "I mean, construction is dangerous, but this is just unacceptable and intolerable," Bloomberg said. With the enormous amount of construction in the city, he said it's impossible to have an inspector everywhere, all the time.

While vowing another investigation into this collapse, Bloomberg acknowledged that only actual changes in operation will help prevent future construction accidents.

"The real issue is, do you learn something and then change things?" he said. "Or is it just, this is a way to stall by saying 'We're going to do an investigation.'"

After the fatal crane collapse in March, Bloomberg called for an inspection of every crane in operation in the city. The crane involved in today's accident was not inspected because it had not yet been erected at the site.

Bloomberg also pushed ahead with a $4 million project aimed at improving the city's construction safety. One aspect of his plan included funding for 63 new positions within the city's Department of Buildings.

According to building officials, there were eight crane-related accidents and 10 crane-related injuries in 2007 in New York City. Today's confirmed fatality is the 15th construction-related deaths in the city since May 2008, according to a tally by Newsday. Eight people have died in crane collapses; three have died in falls; two, in a construction site fire; one, in a scaffolding collapse; and one, in a trench collapse.

In July, a steam explosion burst underground near Grand Central Terminal. The blast injured dozens and left one woman dead of a heart attack.