Construction crane falls across Mercer, killing four

Google building on Mercer and Fairview
Photo courtesy Seattle Fire

Update from Seattle Fire: the incident at Fairview Ave N and Mercer street has an 8th patient that was treated on-scene and not transported. This was the 6th car with damage from the fallen crane.

A construction crane has fallen across Mercer at Fairview in South Lake Union, killing four people.

According to reporting from KOMO TV, the crane was on the top of the Google building, which is under construction. It was being dismantled when it fell. A large section is on top of the building, where it crushed the utility building and part of the top floor.

A large section broke and fell across six cars which were traveling eastbound on Mercer. Two crane operators and two people in the vehicles on the street were killed instantly.

Four others, including a mother and baby were injured. One person was treated at the scene and the mother, baby, and a 27 year old man are in Harborview with non-life-threatening injuries.

SDOT reports that this area will be closed until Sunday

Update: Mercer was reopened on Monday. According to a reader, it was open by 4am.

Mercer is completely blocked off for the investigation. If you were planning on traveling that route, it will be blocked for some time.

It is not expected that the cause of the accident will be known for some time. The last crane accident, which was in Bellevue, took six months for the final report.