3 dead, 1 injured after crane truck basket plunges to ground in Yunlin

Taipei, Sept. 4 (CNA) Three workers died and one was severely injured on Wednesday after a truck crane malfunctioned at a livestock feed plant in Huwei Township, Yunlin County, causing the basket carrying the men to fall from a height of around eight meters.

The Yunlin County Fire Bureau said it received a report about the accident at 1:47 p.m., informing them that the crane basket had collapsed as workers repaired the roof on a factory in Huwei's Beixi Village.

Upon arriving at the scene, emergency responders found three of the men suffering from out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA), while the other man was unconscious and severely injured.

The four workers, all Taiwanese nationals, were rushed to area hospitals, where the three found OHCA were declared dead, the fire bureau said.

According to the Yunlin County government, the livestock feed company hired a crane services company to repair the damaged roof of its factory.

While the men were working at a height of around eight meters, the crane's cable snapped, causing the basket carrying them to plunge to the ground, the county government said.

Based on a preliminary investigation, the weight of the men in the crane's basket appears to have exceeded its maximum intended load, Yunlin police said.