This is the horrifying moment a 98ft crane toppled over in 90mph winds and crushed two builders to death in Poland as storms battered Europe.
Footage posted online shows debris, including leaves, plastic and panels of plasterboard, flying through the air in high winds and lashing rain in Krakow, Poland.
The 98ft crane initially looks stable despite the weather conditions, part of Storm Eunice that brought record 122mph winds to the UK, but then starts to fall backwards.
The crane, which was out of service at the time, disappears behind an apartment block as it smashes down, killing two workers and injuring another two, police said.
Polish officials, who have opened an investigation into the accident, recorded wind speeds of up to 40mph in the area on Thursday.
This is the horrifying moment a 98ft crane toppled over in 90mph winds and crushed two builders to death in Poland as storms battered Europe
Footage posted online shows debris, including leaves, plastic and panels of plasterboard, flying through the air in high winds and lashing rain in Krakow, Poland, as the crane topples over behind an apartment block
The 98ft crane initially looks stable in the video despite the weather conditions, which were part of Storm Eunice that brought record 122mph winds to the UK, but then starts to fall backwards
The crane, which was out of service at the time, disappears behind an apartment block as it smashes down, killing two workers and injuring another two, police said
One of the builders who died was on the ground while the other was working on a nearby rooftop when they were crushed, Vertikal.net reported.
One was declared dead at the scene and the second died in hospital after succumbing to his injuries on Thursday.
Police have launched an investigation into the cause of the accident and probing whether officials properly secured the crane in preparation for strong winds.
The crane had been working on a five-storey building prior to the incident but was out of service on Thursday because of the storm.
A statement from the developer, the Murapol Group, said all cranes were taken out of service as a result of the wind meaning there was ‘no operator in the cabin of the machine’ at the time of the accident.
It said the two builders killed and the two injured were working for a sub-contractor.
‘The Murapol Group will provide the emergency services and safety authorities with the necessary information to explain the causes of the situation,’ the statement added.
‘At the same time, we express our deep sympathy for the family of the person who died as a result of this unfortunate accident.’
Storms battered Poland, destroying this house elevation in Pozan, west-central Poland, on Thursday
Construction workers repair traffic lights in Poznan, Poland, on Friday after they were felled by strong winds as storms battered northern Europe
Poland’s meteorology directorate warned on Thursday that wind speeds would top 100km per hour (62mph) as the storms swept through the country
Poland’s meteorology directorate warned on Thursday that wind speeds would top 100km per hour (62mph) as the storms swept through the country.
It said on Thursday that at least 3,000 houses had been left without power after the first wave of bad weather passed through northern Europe.
The second major storm in three days smashed through northern Europe on Friday, killing at least nine people as high winds felled trees, cancelled train services and ripped sections off the roof of London’s O2 Arena.
The weather system, known as Storm Zeynep in Germany, pushed into the European mainland, prompting high wind warnings in Belgium, Poland, the Netherlands, Denmark and Germany.
In the Netherlands, firefighters said three people were killed by falling trees in and around Amsterdam, and a fourth died in the northern province of Groningen after driving his car into a fallen tree.
And in neighboring Belgium an elderly man died when high winds pushed him into a canal in Ypres.
Eunice was the second named storm to hit Europe last week, with the first storm killing at least five people in Germany and Poland.
At least 3,000 houses in Poland were left without power after the first wave of bad weather passed through northern Europe on Thursday
Firefighters remove a fallen tree in Warsaw, Poland, after it was felled in a series of storms that battered northern Europe last week
