2 injured when wind tower collapses near Rochester
Published 3:45 pm Friday, January 14, 2011
ASSOCIATED PRESS
ROCHESTER — Two workers were hurt when the wind turbine they were assembling collapsed near Rochester.
The Rochester Fire Department says the accident happened Friday morning on private property in rural southwest Rochester.
Deputy Fire Chief Steve Belau tells Minnesota Public Radio News one of the workers was seriously injured and was airlifted to St. Marys Hospital in Rochester. He says the other was taken to the hospital by ambulance.
Belau says a crane working on the tower lost its grip, causing the tower to fall.
The Post-Bulletin reports the turbine was supposed to be 160 feet high, but only about 100 feet of it had been erected when it collapsed.
The turbine is being built to supply electricity to a rural home.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration will investigate.
