Japan construction firm searched after 3 die in crane demolition accident
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Five male workers, who were working on top of a 400 tonne counterweight attached at a height of 30m, fell when the weight came loose.
PHOTO: REUTERS
TOKYO – Japanese police on April 14 searched the Yokohama branch of a Tokyo construction firm after five workers fell during crane demolition work in neighbouring Kawasaki last week, leaving three of them dead and one missing, investigative sources said.
TOA, the contractor for the demolition work, was searched on suspicion of professional negligence resulting in death over the April 7 accident at a site within JFE Steel’s East Japan Works steelmaking complex.
Police officers also searched Besterra in Tokyo, a subcontractor of TOA, the sources said.
According to the firm and others, the five male workers were working on top of a roughly 400 tonne counterweight attached at a height of about 30m to a 54m high crane to maintain its stability during cargo loading and unloading operations.
The workers, who were trying to remove the concrete inside the counterweight as part of the process of demolishing the crane, fell as the weight came loose.
The crane was used to load and unload iron ore from ships stopping at Kawasaki, which is in Kanagawa Prefecture. Demolition work was under way as the JFE Steel’s blast furnace was no longer in use. KYODO NEWS
