The West Flanders Public Prosecutor’s Office (Furnes division), has opened an inquiry following the toppling of a crane, which caused the death of one person in Nieuport on Wednesday.
The Public Prosecutor, Filiep Jodts, indicated that an expert had gone to the scene of the accident to examine the circumstances. So far it appears that a storm made a crane swing. It then overturned onto an apartment block and several cars. The incident happened on Wednesday. One fatality, aged 73, was discovered under the wreckage.
The crane in question had already been threatening to collapse on November 12th. Some fifty inhabitants had to be evacuated, as a safety precaution. A third party organisation then established that the situation was, once again, safe and supplied the necessary safety certificates.
Although the Public Prosecutor’s Office was not, as such, handling the case, it requested that evidence as to the circumstances of the incident be obtained. Four other individuals were injured as the crane fell, but were not in a critical condition. A further building was struck, as well as cars.
The Public Prosecutor’s Office sent an expert to the premises, so as to determine definitively the cause or causes of the incident.
