Construction Accident At 4WTC Resulting in Subway Service Diversion On 1 Line

A crane lifting a load on 4WTC apparently suffered some kind of problem and the load dropped 40 stories to an area that is off-limits.

The load plunged some 40 stories. Debris fell into a closed-off area of the construction site after the crane’s cable snapped.

The Fire Department says some of the beams fell on an unoccupied trailer. A construction worker nearby was looked at by emergency responders, but was not taken to the hospital.

Number 1 train service is suspended south of Chambers Street.

The incident took place at about 10 a.m. near Church and Cortlandt Street.

4WTC is expected to be completed and ready for occupancy at the end of 2013. It's not clear whether the crane accident will delay construction.

As they say, developing....

UPDATE:
I've had an opportunity to go by the site. As these photos at Gothamist indicate, the crane dropped the load 40 stories on the NW corner of the 4WTC site. This puts the accident close to the SE corner of the WTC Memorial but no damage was done to either the memorial or the 4WTC building itself.

Work on 4WTC appears to have been stopped and the crane wire appears to have snapped off near the top of the tower. After the series of crane accidents a few years ago, inspections were stepped up around the city to prevent further accidents. One avenue of the investigation into this accident will be whether inspection schedules were followed and whether the weather or other factors played a role in the accident.

I had heard a crashing and thunderous booming sound around the time of the accident, but didn't give it much heed (we get various construction noise at my location all the time) although the sound of emergency vehicle sirens did ring out a short time later.