New York High-Rise Horror As Crane Catches Fire and Collapses in Manhattan

A crane on top of a high-rise building in Manhattan caught fire on Wednesday before collapsing and falling into rush hour traffic as some commuters reportedly ran for safety.

The crane was placed on a building under construction on 10th Avenue and West 41st Street and the cause of the fire is not yet known. A portion of the crane collapsed onto 10th Avenue.

The street was closed for safety reasons, according to a report from ABC7 New York, while the New York City Fire Department (FDNY) deployed units to the scene of the collapse.

Both FDNY and the New York City Police Department (NYPD) tweeted about the incident on Wednesday morning.

"FDNY units are currently operating at a crane collapse and fire at 550 Tenth Avenue in Manhattan," the FDNY official Twitter account wrote, sharing a brief video of the incident.

Newsweek reached out to the FDNY via email for further comment on Wednesday.

The NYPD News Twitter account issued an advisory, writing: "Due to a crane collapse, please avoid the area of 10th Avenue and 11th Avenue from West 41 Street to West 42 Street. Please use alternate routes and expect traffic in the area."

In the tweeted video shared by FDNY, smoke can seen rising from the crane on top the building to background sound of traffic. Other social media users also shared videos of the crane to Twitter on Wednesday.

The collapse took place near Hudson Yards in Midtown at around 7.30 a.m. E.T. and it remains unclear if the crane was occupied at the time, Officer Antonio Antenucci told The New York Times.

At least one person has been injured, according to media reports.

Erik Bottcher, New York City Council Member for District 3, tweeted that there were "5 patients with injuries (4 civilians and 1 FF). Luckily, they are minor in nature thus far. DOB [Department of Buildings] is on the way to the scene with engineers."

Twitter user @jimmy_farring shared a video that captured the crane from a different angle and showed it partially collapsing and hitting the side of a nearby building, apparently causing damage to the glass before part of the crane fell into the street below.

That video also appeared to show pedestrians speeding away from the falling crane while cars continue to drive up the street. Towards the end of the video, sirens can be heard in the distance.

Bottcher shared the video early on Wednesday and wrote: "First responders are on the scene of a collapse of a construction crane next to a residential high-rise building in Hell's Kitchen at Tenth Avenue btwn 41st & 40th Streets. We are in touch with the FDNY on and will share any updates as we have them."

Update 07/26/23 09.32 a.m. E.T.: This article was updated to include more information.