'It wasn't standing up straight.' 4 dead in Seattle crane collapse

SEATTLE (AP) — Four people were killed and four injured when a construction crane collapsed in downtown Seattle on Saturday afternoon, pinning six cars underneath.

Among the dead were two iron workers and two people in separate cars — three men and one woman. The four were dead when firefighters arrived, the Seattle Fire Department said.

Among those injured were a 25-year-old mother and her 4-month-old baby, both of whom appeared to be "doing OK," said Fire Chief Harold Scoggins. A 28-year-old male was also injured and taken to the hospital. A fourth person injured was in a car crushed by the crane, but was not taken to the hospital.

The crane collapsed from a building under construction at the intersection of Mercer Street and Fairview Avenue near Interstate 5. The first 911 call came in at 3:28 p.m.

The crane collapsed as workers were dismantling it. Deyan Cashmere, 20, and his father videotaped the crane before it fell. They were concerned that it was unstable. Cashmere, who is from Australia, is in Seattle for leukemia treatment.

Cashmere said he has worked on cranes and that this one had been "on a lean" all day. "It wasn't standing up straight," he said.

He said it had appeared unsteady since the morning, when he went to the hospital for treatment.

His father, Bruce, said he had taken a time-lapse video of the crane just before the collapse. He was in the family's hotel room when the crane fell, then ran down to see if he could help at the scene.

He said he helped a man who appeared to have a broken hip get out of a crushed Audi SUV. The mother and baby also had been in the vehicle and survived.

Linda Nguyen described the scene on Facebook: "I saw it happen," she said. “I was right behind those cars. Craziest thing. Like being in an action movie but on slow motion while paralyzed and watching an event happening before your brain could even process what was happening."

She said she heard a "sudden loud whirl of wind," which struck her as odd, because it wasn't particularly windy, "then saw the crane crash against a building and flip onto the eastbound side of Mercer, just a couple cars from where I was.”

Nguyen ducked into a nearby alley and called 911 and drove off, "afraid that building might come tumbling down with the crane ... and also wanting to keep the alley free for emergency vehicles to arrive."

Robert Moles, of Mobile, Alabama, had just gotten into his hotel room and was sitting down on his hotel room couch to take off his boots when he felt the couch shake. He thought it was a little earthquake at first.

Moles then ran outside to the corner, where he had been driving just minutes before, and saw crane bits scattered about.

The crane collapsed at a project known as Block 25, which includes six stories of offices for Google and an apartment tower above. The building is part of a multi-block campus nearly twice the size of Google’s Kirkland offices. It’s being developed by Vulcan and built by GLY Construction.

Google’s offices will occupy some of the most visible real estate in South Lake Union, being the first thing seen by many visitors arriving in the neighborhood via Mercer and Fairview or by visitors to Lake Union Park and the Museum of History and Industry.

The building appeared to have suffered substantialmajor damage.

"Until the we're able to do an inspection the building itself that we've deemed it unsafe to enter," Mayor Jenny Durkan told a news conference. "We don't know what kind of structural damage may have been done by the crane itself to any of the other components of the building."

After the crane collapse, all lanes of Mercer Street were closed, and motorists were told to avoid the area. Fairview was also blocked off.

Assistant Police Chief of Patrol Operations Eric Greening said all lanes may be closed until Sunday night.

Greening said homicide and traffic collision investigators would be on the scene.

With Amazon and other tech companies increasing their hiring in Seattle, the city has dozens of construction cranes building office towers and apartment buildings. As of January, there were about 60 construction cranes in Seattle, more than any other American city.

Reporting from the Associated Press and KUOW's Gil Aegerter, Kate Walters and Joshua McNichols.

Clarification, 9:40 a.m., 4/28/2019: Two workers who died in the collapse were iron workers, according to officials. Earlier official accounts had described them as crane operators.