Engineers are overseeing an operation to remove a collapsed crane that crashed through the roof of a family home in Melbourne's west yesterday afternoon.
The crane was installing a pre-fabricated home onto a block in Yarraville when it toppled over, partially demolishing the house where Fred Pace and his cousin Daniel Pantalleresco were watching basketball on the TV.
Mr Pantalleresco said the crane only just missed hitting his aunty as the roof caved in, causing significant damage to the home.
"We just saw the crane coming into the house. That's when we knew we had to run," he said.
Nobody inside the house was hurt, and the driver and rigger working on the mobile crane also escaped injury.
The Metropolitan Fire Brigade's Roger Chitty said the crane had collapsed while "repositioning" the second of three modules which would have formed the home.
"It [the module] was in the wrong position, it was picked up and it was being turned around to be put in the right position, something happened, and that's why the crane has ended up as it did," he said.
WorkSafe engineers inspected the crane last night and were on site this morning to oversee efforts to remove it using two other large cranes.
Emergency accommodation was organised for the Pace family, who were unable to return home last night due to the significant damage to their house.
Matt Reed, the director of the crane operator, Reed Cranes & Transport, said the company was "devastated" by the accident and was assisting WorkSafe with its investigation into the cause of the collapse.
