August 15, 2011
England

Man dies in Rossendale crane crash

Lancashire Telegraph, www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk 15 August 2011

A man died today after a crane he was driving at a Rossendale quarry crashed.

Police said the crane operator, who has not been named, died after the eight-axle 130-tonne crane came off a road at near the Scout Moor windfarm site in Edenfield.

Fire crews said the vehicle had collided with an earth bank – trapping and killing the driver when a section of the crane collapsed.

A joint police and Health and Safety Executive investigation has now been launched.

Officers said the crane was being driven through the site, on a private road which is shared with the nearby quarry, at the time of the accident.

It is understood that the crane had been used over the weekend to replace a faulty turbine and was being driven from the site.

The driver’s body was not removed from the crane for several hours while inquiries took place.

A fire service spokesman said specialist rescue crews had been sent to the scene to assist with releasing the man’s body.

He said: “The crane collided with an earth banking and it toppled over.

“The jib of the crane collapsed, trapping the driver inside.

“We were on stand-by to free him from the wreckage but he was pronounced dead at the scene.”

Police said the accident was being treated as an ‘unexplained incident’.

No details have been released about the crane driver, but he is not understood to be from Lancashire.

Scout Moor windfarm, the largest inshore site in the country, is operated by Peel Energy.

A spokesman for Marshalls, which operates the nearby quarry, said: “We are deeply saddened by this incident.”


URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2011/08/15/man-dies-in-rossendale-crane-crash/