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Crane Collapse Kills 28 in Shanghai Shipyard
Twenty-eight workers were killed when a 5,000-ton gantry crane collapsed suddenly while being elevated in a Shanghai shipyard at around 8 a.m. Tuesday
When the crane collapsed, more than 30 workers were working in a 50-meter-high and 20 meters by 20 meters square-shaped column, which also collapsed, according to some eyewitnesses.
Rescue staff had to cut holes in the steel column using welding torches. So far, there are still several people missing, with little chance that they will be found alive, according to sources.
Sources said five injured people were immediately sent to a nearby hospital for treatment and two of them, who only had flesh wounds, have been treated and have left the hospital.
The accident occurred at the Hudong Shipbuilding Group Co., Ltd. plant in Shanghai, the largest metropolis in east China.
An employee with the company said, "I heard some loud thundering noise soon after I arrived at my office in the morning and then saw the giant crane sloping slowly."
"The workers were running away quickly but it was still too late for those working in the column to flee," he said.
Huang Ju, secretary of the Shanghai Municipal Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (CPC), and other government officials rushed to the accident site and directed an all-out rescue.
An investigation into the cause of the accident is underway.
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