_National
Construction crane falls, kills 5
Contractor previously was negligent
By lames Clifford
Asso< idled Press
SAX FKAXCISCO (AI’) A
crane plummeted from the ltilh
stnr\ of a building under con
strui turn Tuesda\ flattening a
school van. several i ars and
smashing into .in office build
ing across the street At least
five people were killed 1 in
lured and five left missing, an
thorities said
"It felt like an earthquake."
said Merrill l.vnch Vue I’resi
dent |oe Mi haughlin, who was
in the damaged ollii e building
"I looked out and saw two hod
ies One construction worker's
boots were siic king up through
a mass ol jagged metal
In the aftermath ot the a< i i
dent that rained i om rete and
twisted steel on one ol the bus
lest intersections in the tinan
i ial distrii t a prosecutor said
criminal negligent e ( barges
tw ice previously had been filed
against the project's general
i ontrat tor tor at ( idents on I .os
Angeles construt lion sites
There were conflicting state
mcnts on w hat was happening
before the crane fell l ire Chief
Fred Postel said it was hoisting
steel beams, but the general
contractor said the crane was
being repositioned from the
Kith to the I'tith floors
A piei e of the crane .it least
three stories long dangled from
the side of the building undei
construction two hours after
the H t() a m at ( ulent I’olii e
roped oil the area and ambu
lam es rushed in and out
The street was littered with
flattened cars and a mangled
motori yi le (las was i ill oft to
the damaged It I slor\ office
building for tear of an expio
sum
"The wreckage looks abso
lulely iiii redible steel beams
look like pit klip sinks said
Ai ting Mayor Angela Aliolo
sitting in while Mayor Art Ag
nos tours the country urging
tourists to return in the wake of
the ()( t 17 earthquake
At an afternoon news confer
ence at the scene Alioto said
experts could not immediately
determine the cause of the col
lapse She also said streets in a
four square-block area would
be i losed for at least a w eek for
cleanup and repairs and the
California Street cable i ar also
\vas shut down
Alioto >..11(1 tin’ do,id were
four construction workers, oil
from the Seattle area and the
woman driv ing the school van
operated bv l.aidlaw liansit
ln<
"It's prettv rough, said
Laidlavv Senior Vice President
Howard Wallack They (other
employees) are pretty upset
and we are arranging a i hap
lain and psv< hologist to go
over to our off it es
The tire i hief said five peo
pie were listed as missing in
the twisted steel and broken
concrete
Three hospitals reported re
reiving -1 vie tints, four in seri
oils condition Most of the rest
had minor injuries
Swinerton S Walberg do ot
San I ram isi o, the general i on
tractor on the job. said the
crane was being repositioned
from the Kith storv to the litJth
storv , the set mid such reposi
tinning of the projei t
The i i,me model \'o SN la *
manufai lured liv A merit an
Pen o of Millwood, N 'l had a
i apai its ol 17 tons The site
was last inspected b\ the stale
Occupational Safety and Health
Administration on Aug 1 I
The projei t. w Im li began in
January has not been ( ited lor
safety violations, the company
said in a new s release
(aiminal negligence (barges
w ere tw i< e tiled against
Swinerton and \\ albert in tout
and Pint, tor separate a< i idents
on the l.os Angeles sites said
I .os Angeles Deputy ( aty Attoi
uev Mb had (Illarion
In I*IH 1. ( barges w ere tiled
after a crane collapsed and an
unknown mimbei ol people
were killed, (iuarino said The
i ase w.is dropped be( ause pros
ei ulors could not get the kind
ol charges they wanted to the
pit y he said
Prosecutors wanted to prove
only culpable negligem e in the
( use (iuarino said but the state
labor lode requires that prose
t utors prove wanton and will
till disregard lor human safety
he said
In the 1 'iHti i ase. (iuarino
said. Swinerton and Walberg
w.is a in defendant in a (.ase
stemming from a construction
site accident that killed three
ironworkers alter the steel su
perstrui lure ol a 1 story office
building was overloaded
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Irai tors and In donate an 1111
known amount In a labor safety
I man I ( biarino said
According to Washington
stain Department of l..dmr and
Intlusli ins rm nrds I In* San
I rani isrn project's 1 rant- sub
i nnlr.11 tor I'hu I'm linn l In n!
Kirkland Wash u.is finml tin
sutrt\ \ inlalinns at lu.isl Inur
limns bi'lnri’ I'm? tliri'u limns
in l'.tH? and mu u in 1‘lHH said
dup<irtmi'iit spuknsman |n)in
Akins
I'hu 1 nmpany is appealing
lliu lust reported tint* vvhiuti
was impnsud allui a worker full
In his dualh while working on
the I’.n if it I- list ( enlui in
downtown Seattlu in August
1'IBH A Is 11 is said
A11 fill pi s In mat h \dam
|onus prusidunl of Thu Mrui
linn (In wuru not sun ussful
and tuluphnnu 1 .ills In compani
of 111 us w uru 111 it ml 111 nud
In Tuesdas s .11 i idunl dnhris
1 a 1 ui*d down nil a Iasi driven
hi Issa Massaru uli who had
twn passengers at the time Thu
1 ah s bai k it indow 11 as
smashud
I don't knnu w here ms pas
sungurs am lie said I threw
nivsulf until'! tin' dash!.id
liu lulil his passengers to dm k
and it hun III' unit looked thus
had lull I le is as unharmed
"I heard a loud hang and
stepped up and saw the lad end
nl a 1 1 anu said stm khrnkui
Dun Trailer!. whn saw the .11 1 1
dent hum Ins nllii e in the Hank
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Department says it tried
to suppress subpoenas
B\ lames Row lev
\s\ot iated Press
\\ \SHI\IIT()\ (AIM I lie |usli<f Department s.iiil lues
tia\ it h.ul -anight In quash subpoenas issued liv I'.m Amt'ri
i;an airlines tor dm nmonts in government tilrs .iliont Ih«• in
llighl bombing ol I’.in Am f light tin mm Siotland that
kifl«>ii ii pi*())111■
In a brii'l stalmiii'iit lunsdav night tin- di'|iartmi'iil said it
moved. in a sealed i nurt request last week, to quash the suh
poenas served on si\ government agem ins
While ledmal judges ill Hmnklvn. \ Y and Washington
dei lined to grant the government’s request I'.in Am was <li
ret ted to narrow its request tor inlormation
1'lie department saul I’.m Am lawyers were told to submit a
dratt limit ordei seeking inlormation about how the suitcase
with the bomb made its wav aboard the flight bound tiom
I notion to New York
The department -.till reserves the i iglit to t hallenge the re
quest loi a i nurt order said spokesman I lav id K unkel
I he department's disi Insure i aine as a government smut e
who declined to he identilied said investigators had tr.u ed
i lothmg Iragmeiits from the suiti ase that i untamed the linmh
to a shop in Malta, lending i redeni e to the thoorv that the
route of the suiti ase originated on that Mediterranean island
llntisii newspapers previouslv had reported the Malta
i lothing i ounei lion
Kunkel said the department moved to quash the subpoenas
on the grounds that information in government tiles was p.irt
ol an n live i ritninal investigation and thus did not have to
be prodiii ed
Investigators are living to pin down |ust who plated the
suiti ase on a I lunkflirt bound plane III Malta and how it was
liunslei red to the I'an Am plane wlinli proceeded from
I runkturt to London, where it bet nine Might till bound loi
New York
I’an Am is Irving to obtain government inlormation about
the i ase to detentl a i iv il i ase in Hrooklv n bv the estates and
tumilies ol people killed ill the i rush
\n insurant e investigator lured bv the airline concluded
that the government was warned an hour betore flight Hit
look oil that a bomb might be aboard but did nothing at
i Hiding to pail ol Ihe mvesligaloi s report leleused earlv this
month bv Rep lames I lain ant. I) ( thin I l.\ spokesmen have
i harm teia/ed that report as nonsense
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