1,000 residents displaced, roads closed after partial crane collapse in Midtown

May 23rd, 2023

The city of Atlanta will pay $3.75 million to the family of a Nebraska man who died after police handcuffed him face down. Officers arrested Dorado after he brawled with them at a convenience store. (Matthew Pearson/WABE)

This story was updated at 12:51 p.m.

Residents of about 1,000 apartments in Atlanta’s Midtown neighborhood remained unable to return to their homes Tuesday after a crane partially collapsed at a nearby construction site a day earlier.

One of the crane’s counterweights became dislodged and fell, causing damage to the crane Monday afternoon, Atlanta fire chief Rod Smith said during a news conference Tuesday. Crews from his department are at the site to help secure and disassemble the crane.

Once it no longer poses any danger, people will be allowed to return to their homes, he said. But he did not elaborate on how long that might take.

Mayor Andre Dickens said he was glad that only four people were hurt and that they suffered non-life-threatening injuries. He said the city would work with the state and the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration to investigate what happened.

In the meantime, there are some street closures in the area and city officials urged people to avoid the area or to use the MARTA train system.
Midtown Atlanta is a bustling commercial and residential district with lots of high-rise apartments and office buildings under construction.

Dickens noted that people who live and work in the area have been through a lot lately. Just three weeks ago, a man shot five people, killing one, at a medical office about a block from the site of the partial crane collapse.