Residents evacuated after crane collapse

MORE than 60 residents of the Ringsend district of Dublin were forced to leave their homes yesterday after part of a 200-foot crane collapsed.

The incident is also likely to cause severe traffic disruption on the city’s south side this morning as all DART services between Pearse Street and Sydney Parade have been cancelled until further notice.

Officials from the Health and Safety Authority took the decision to evacuate people living in the Barrow Street area of Ringsend after the front jib of the crane appeared to snap off and dangle precariously from its main frame.

Locals were alerted to the incident after hearing a loud bang shortly after 10.30am.

The crane was used for construction work on the site of a new apartment scheme called The Gasworks which is being built by one of the country’s leading property companies, Zoe Developments.

“The danger is that the broken piece could cause the whole structure to collapse on nearby buildings,” said one fire officer.

Residents from Emerald Cottages, Barrow Street and Grand Canal Street were moved as a precautionary measure to a number of nearby hotels and guesthouses.

Three other cranes were brought to the site yesterday afternoon in an attempt to make the damaged crane safe. However, stormy weather conditions with gusts of wind reaching up to 60mph prevented crews from starting the repair work.

Safety teams were continuing to monitor the situation throughout the night in the hope that the restrictions to rail services today could be averted.

No train services were affected yesterday as all DART trains at weekends have been cancelled on the city’s south side since last year due to a major upgrading of the line.

Last night, an Iarnród Éireann spokesperson said no DART services would operate between Pearse and Sydney Parade because the damaged crane is adjacent to the DART line.

There will also be curtailed services operating between Greystones and Sydney Parade. Services to Rosslare and Gorey will be part or fully substituted by bus. Other commuters services may also be subject to minor delays.

“Iarnród Éireann apologises to customers for the unavoidable inconvenience which may result. The suspension of services will be lifted as soon as our engineers are satisfied that trains can safely operate through the area,” said the spokesperson.

Meanwhile, people living in the Barrow Street area reacted calmly to the incident. “It was a kind of a bang. I thought initially it was a noise coming from workers on another construction site on the other side of the road,” said Barrow Street resident, Paddy O’Mahony. “It sounded like a large sheet of steel falling.”

Mr O’Mahony and his family were preparing to spend the night at the Mespil Hotel a mile away. “It’s a bit of a nuisance but you have to accept that these things are being done for everybody’s safety,” he added.

A full investigation on the cause of the accident is also being carried out by inspectors from the Health and Safety Authority.