Crane topples into intersection in downtown Toronto

Toronto mayor John Tory is calling for a speedy investigation into the cause of a crane collapse at a construction site in the downtown core – the second such incident in less than a month.

Police say the crane fell into the intersection of River and Dundas streets around 10:30 a.m. Thursday morning.

No injuries were reported.

A witness who works at a nearby business said a cyclist narrowly avoided being struck by the crane, hopping off her bicycle as it smashed onto the street.

Toronto Fire Platoon Chief Dan Sell says a preliminary investigation has determined that bolts which were holding a turntable to the structure had sheared off, causing the crane to become unstable.

“The operator noticed that the crane didn’t sound right and he stopped the crane,” explained Sell. “He looked again and saw that some bolts had broken off, so he shut everything down and got everyone out and tried to secure the area at the front of the building.”

Sell said police have cleared the incident of any criminality and that the Ministry of Labour is now investigating.

Sell added that the process to remove the crane from the street likely won’t be completed until Friday night at the earliest.

Tory says that while he’s thankful nobody was seriously injured in either incident, it’s important that investigators get to the bottom of why the cranes collapsed.

“This is the second crane collapse in our city in less than a month and so we will want to know what exactly happened in both cases and how it can be prevented,” said Tory. “While this incident is still under investigation, I encourage the construction industry in our city to take all precautions possible to make sure their sites and cranes continue to be safe.”

The Daniels Corporation, which is in charge of the construction site where the accident occurred, says a mechanical failure led to the partial collapse of the crane.

“The crane was not in operation at the time, there was no operator on board and no serious injuries have been reported,” vice president Sam Tassone said in a statement.

“Construction as the site has been temporarily suspended and we are fully cooperating with investigators. We have also initiated our own internal investigation into the incident.”

Premier Doug Ford said he’s confident the Ministry of Labour will get to the bottom of the incident.

“I can’t remember the last time a crane collapsed like that,” Ford said.

This is the second crane to fall in the city in the past three weeks.

On July 16th, a construction crane collapsed onto a skyscraper at Simcoe and Wellington streets.

Files from The Canadian Press were used in this report