These Giant Cranes Toppled Over While Moving A Bridge Segment In The Netherlands

This is some pretty intense footage of a crane collapse in the Dutch town of Alphen aan den Rijn.

In the video, two cranes aboard a pontoon boat can be seen lifting a large bridge segment. As they begin to move the heavy load, the boat starts to pitch into the water. Within seconds, the crane furthest from the camera falls off the floating platform, taking the heavy piece of bridge with it. Shortly after, the crane closest to the camera gets pulled down, as well. You can hear the workers on the pontoon screaming, and see them abandoning the platform, all while the mammoth machines plow into a group of buildings just offshore.

Local resident Dick van Smirren, who filmed the disaster, told Dutch broadcaster NOS: “You see the cloud of dust rise, that is a terrible image and you think: ‘Who is under there?’ You can’t believe what you see.”

While there may be as many as 20 people injured by the collapse, thankfully, no fatalities were reported.

(Via Reddit, BBC NEWS)

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