Hair-raising escape as crane falls on hair salon

CUSTOMERS at a hair salon in Dungarvan, Co Waterford, had a miraculous escape yesterday when a crane toppled over in high winds and crashed onto the building.

There were two people in the New Images salon in O’Connell Street when the accident happened shortly before 3.30pm, but they and proprietor Nicola Dee dashed to safety into the street.

Overhead power cables broke the fall of the crane as the jib of the machine tore a gaping hole in the roof of the single-storey premises.

“Had it not been for the power cables, serious loss of life would have been inevitable,” said Spar supermarket owner John Walsh whose premises are across the road from the salon.

Mr Walsh saw the crane falling onto the roof.

“I first saw the jib and then it just crashed into the premises,” he said. “It was the most frightening and terrifying sight of my life.”

He immediately ran across the road to call the owner and customers out but as he did, he saw all three women came running from the salon. “It is a miracle, nothing less, that no one was killed,” Mr Walsh said.

“It was the overhead power cables that averted an appalling tragedy, they are all lucky to be alive.”

The crane, owned by the Southern Forklift Company, was working on the construction site of a new multi-million euro shopping complex at Shandon and was lifting a slab of concrete when it keeled over.

The crane driver was PJ Cowman, but he was in no mood to speak about the incident, while a female safety officer on site refused to comment.

Ms Dee said she was thankful no one had been injured or worse. “That is the all-important thing,” she said.

“All I can think of is that we are lucky to be alive,” she said.

The incident left many business premises and houses in O’Connell Street and surrounding estates without electricity for two hours while ESB crews worked to restore power.

The site was cordoned off by gardaí while Health and Safety Authority officers, who happened to be present at the time of the accident, immediately undertook a detailed inspection.

A section of the street was reduced to a single lane of traffic for the remainder of the day.