Crane metal falls, kills two workers



BRAINTREE, Mass. (AP) -- A piece of the giant metal frame that once held shipbuilding cranes collapsed onto a building at a former shipyard Wednesday, killing two workers and sending rescuers rushing to save others trapped under the twisted metal.
At least four people were injured, two of them seriously.
Part of the Fore River Shipyard's craneway, a huge metal superstructure that once held up to 22 separate cranes over the dry dock, collapsed on the building in the morning while 12 workers were inside removing asbestos.
One man was killed when the building collapsed on top of the vehicle in which he was sitting. Search dogs found the body of the second fatality later in the rubble.
Shipyard owner Dan Quirk told the Patriot Ledger the craneway was in the process of being dismantled when it gave way. The collapse was under investigation, Traub said.
One of the injured men had been buried under four feet of bricks, said Michael Cheney, a labor consultant who was also inside. "He was screaming at the top of his lungs," Cheney said. "That's how we found him."
The shipyard, which once built Navy ships during World War II, was closed in 1987. Braintree is just south of Boston.
Copyright 2005 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.