City employee charged over New York crane accident

AFP, March, 2008

NEW YORK (AFP) — A New York City employee has been charged with lying about an inspection he supposedly made of a construction crane that collapsed last weekend killing seven people, according to reports Thursday.

Buildings department inspector Edward Marquette had falsely indicated that he inspected the crane on March 4, the day after a report was made expressing concern over the crane's stability, the New York Times reported.

However, the newspaper said Marquette's failure to inspect the crane was almost certainly not a factor in the deadly collapse, which officials think ...