Four Dead Three Injured After Crane Collapses on Several Cars South Lake Union Seattle

The construction boom in Seattle has brought a ton of construction cranes to the area, but it has been 13 years since the last fatal accident involving one of them. My girlfriend was on her way home from my place when this happened and missed being on this stretch of road when the crane fell by just a few minutes. Not a whole lot of information at this time, just more horrible traffic than usual (Mayor Durkan has asked the public to avoid the area). I'm sorry for the families of those that were killed or injured, but relieved that someone I care about is safe.

Mercer Street is an infamous stretch of road that leads from Interstate 5 to the Seattle Center and the Queen Anne Hill neighborhood. Amazon, Google, Tesla, and a bunch of other hi-tech companies have buildings in the area where this accident occurred. Traffic has been a problem on this road at least since the 1970's, and it has only gotten (of course) worse. I'm amazed that more people weren't hurt or killed by this freak accident. As Schuyler mentions in the next post, there were higher than normal wind gusts today. I'm sure there will be a huge investigation and someone will be held accountable if negligence is found.

SOURCE ARTICLE

Four people are dead and three are injured after a crane collapsed onto several cars on Mercer Street in South Lake Union on Saturday afternoon, according to the Seattle Fire Department. A woman, a child and a man in his 20s were taken to Harborview Medical Center with injuries. All were conscious when they arrived. The accident occurred at the corner of Mercer Street and Fairview Avenue.

ETA: Seattle has had more construction cranes in the area than any other city in the US for the past 3 years running.

It was working on a Google building and was being taken down when it bent in the middle and collapsed. There have been relatively high winds in the area today.

I few years back, a crane toppled in NYC...I had been at that job site for a month 2 weeks earlier. It is scary s#.

My love and prayers to the families of those deceased and those injured.

I quit construction not long after.

My God just look at the carnage! It sliced through that Audi (what is that, a "cross-over"? mini-suv?) like a wire cheese cutter.

I didnt go to Seattle that day.

Here's a video taken from a dashcam showing the crane collapse: