Global crane major Wolffkran says it is working with authorities to understand how a Wolff tower crane belonging to Wolffkran Ltd collapsed on a construction site in Bow, East London.
According to the authorities, a resident of the adjacent houses that were struck by the jib of the crane died. Four further people were injured, including two Wolffkran employees.
While one was expected to be discharged quickly, the other remained in hospital over the weekend.
In a statement the company said: “The Wolffkran management and staff are deeply upset by this tragedy and express their deepest sympathy to the family of the woman that died in the incident. Our thoughts are with all those affected, our own staff, and their families. We also thank the rescue teams for their work on site. Employees of Wolffkran Ltd. have been on site since yesterday supporting the responsible authorities in their investigations and preparations to remove the crane from the site.”
The company clarified that the affected crane is a Wolff luffing jib crane of type WOLFF 355 B, “which is one of Wolffkran’s most tried and tested cranes, reliable in operation worldwide”, and currently in operation on 18 sites across the UK.
The crane on the construction site in Bow was only 10 years old and was fully erected on a 22 meter tower the day before the incident.
Wolffkran said it has been providing tower crane services in the UK for 45 years and employs a staff of 300 people.
The WOLFF 355 B has been deployed on a number of projects in the Middle East including the Jeddah Tower and the ICD Brookfield Place tower in Dubai.
