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Steel beams fall 40 stories at WTC site

NEW YORK, Feb. 17 (UPI) -- The fall of 35 tons of steel beams from a construction crane in New York City scared construction workers but caused no serious injuries, officials said.

The flatbed truck that had delivered the three beams to the World Trade Center site in lower Manhattan was crushed when the beams landed on it Thursday morning, the New York Post reported. The driver, who was still in the cab, walked away.

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The only injury was to a construction worker who slipped.

The beams dropped when a cable on a crane at 4 World Trade Center broke. They fell about 40 stories.

"It sounded like a bomb," ironworker Frank Pensabene said.

Another worker, who gave his name only as Mike, said people at the site feared the crane would fall over.

The New York City Buildings Department suspended work on the site while inspectors try to determine what caused the cable break. Two likely possibilities are a failure in the crane's hydraulic system or a miscalculation on how much play the crane's cable would need.

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