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A giant crane has fallen and crushed a residential building in New York, killing four people.
City Mayor Michael Bloomberg confirmed that ten people were injured alongside the four construction workers who died.
He added: "We are still looking for other victims potentially trapped in the rubble".
Greta Welkhammer, a witness who was passing by on her bicycle, said she looked up and saw the crane "literally split in half."
"I saw the crane crashing, splitting in half," she said, adding that she saw the building it hit "falling like a house of cards."
"Everybody was running, running; it was devastating," she said.
Mr Bloomberg said the crane broke during a routine operation to extend its height by inserting a section and raising the top part of the crane. The bottom part of the crane fell and hit a 19-story building, but nobody was injured there.
The top part of the crane, which witnesses said was at least 15 or 20 stories high before the accident, fell and flipped over, hitting and damaging three buildings as it fell and landing on the townhouse that was completely crushed.
Cars on the street were buried in rubble, with one car flipped over on its side on 50th Street in Midtown Manhattan between 1st and 2nd Avenues.
City Mayor Michael Bloomberg confirmed that ten people were injured alongside the four construction workers who died.
He added: "We are still looking for other victims potentially trapped in the rubble".
Greta Welkhammer, a witness who was passing by on her bicycle, said she looked up and saw the crane "literally split in half."
"I saw the crane crashing, splitting in half," she said, adding that she saw the building it hit "falling like a house of cards."
"Everybody was running, running; it was devastating," she said.
Mr Bloomberg said the crane broke during a routine operation to extend its height by inserting a section and raising the top part of the crane. The bottom part of the crane fell and hit a 19-story building, but nobody was injured there.
The top part of the crane, which witnesses said was at least 15 or 20 stories high before the accident, fell and flipped over, hitting and damaging three buildings as it fell and landing on the townhouse that was completely crushed.
Cars on the street were buried in rubble, with one car flipped over on its side on 50th Street in Midtown Manhattan between 1st and 2nd Avenues.
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