KHON KAEN – A 29-year-old man was lucky to escape with his life when a heavy crane lifting a prefabricated house toppled over and crushed his family home.
The accident occurred around 11am on Friday in a residential lane in central Khon Kaen.
A long-boom crane was hoisting a knock-down prefabricated house weighing at least one tonne from the back of a lorry, moving it to a prepared plot of land. It had been lifted more than 10 metres above some high-voltage power lines when the crane became unstable.
Unable to bear the weight, the crane and its load fell onto a two-storey wooden house in the adjoining community.
Construction workers and site supervisors immediately rushed into the damaged home, calling out loudly to locate anyone trapped inside. One man inside the house responded, and was later helped to safety after workers prised open a window to free him.
A preliminary inspection showed the wooden house suffered major damage, with nearly half of the structure crushed and household goods and personal belongings destroyed. The house was deemed unsafe for occupation.
The 29-year-old rescued occupant said he had been inside the house preparing to leave for work later in the day.
He had just left his bedroom when he heard a deafening noise “like an explosion”, and then dust and debris filled the house. Unable to find a way out, he remained trapped until freed by his rescuers. The part of the house that was crushed was an area he regularly walked through.
The man described his escape as “extremely fortunate”.
Another member of the family said she had been washing clothes nearby when she heard the crash. She ran out and saw the crane lying across the house and the prefabricated house it had been lifting now resting amid the debris inside.
An initial assessment pointed to crane-operator error as the possible cause of the accident.
Witnesses said when lifting such a heavy load across power lines, the load should have been lowered to reduce the strain on the crane. Security camera recordings of the incident appeared to show a failure to do so, resulting in both the crane and the load falling to the ground.
The crane company reportedly said it has accident insurance and the provider will asses and handle the issue of damages. However, the family was worried that any shortfall in compensation could leave them struggling to cover repair costs. They called for a fair and transparent resolution to the matter.
Source: Bangkok Post