Three Workers Killed, One Injured as 10-Story Crane Topples in Dallas

DALLAS — A 10-story crane being dismantled Saturday toppled across a parking lot and two downtown streets, killing three construction workers and injuring a fourth, police said.

Workers were disassembling the 200-foot crane outside a downtown parking garage when the machinery became unbalanced, ripped loose from its concrete moorings and crashed to the street, crushing at least half a dozen cars and trucks, witnesses said.

Three workers on the crane’s horizontal boom were killed, investigators with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration said. A fourth worker inside the crane’s control gondola survived with broken bones.

Victims Identified

Steve Ketcher, 24, of Royse City, was pronounced dead at the scene. David R. Riley, 29, of Euless and Michael Weaver, 26, of Grand Prairie died at separate hospitals.

The lone survivor, Jeffrey Burns, 35, of Lewisville, was in fair condition at Parkland Memorial Hospital, hospital spokesman T. J. Grassetti said.

No one on the ground was injured, investigators said.

Dallas police Sgt. Michael Edmonds said the crane outside the Elm Street Garage, a six-level structure under construction on the east side of downtown Dallas, began to sway and buckled just after 10 a.m.

OSHA investigator Jim Knorpp said the crane became unbalanced after the workers removed an 80-foot boom section and were preparing to disassemble the rest.