A boom truck operating on a Sunset Park construction site tipped over and collapsed into a neighboring church Wednesday morning.
The incident occurred a little after 9 a.m. as the boom truck — a type of lorry with a collapsible crane attached to its bed — was being used to unload a tractor full of building materials on a construction site at 850 Fifth Ave., at the intersection with 36th Street, where the city is erecting a new 400-seat public school.
Inspectors with the Department of Buildings said that the truck tipped over on its side and collapsed during the unloading process, tumbling into the neighboring ACTS Christian Church.
The crash took out a sizable chunk of brickwork on the building’s second-floor facade.
A Fire Department spokesperson said that first responders evacuated three people from the church’s premises, and Building Inspectors are working to determine whether the building remains structurally sound and how to remove the boom from the edifice. Luckily, first responders reported no injuries from the collapse.
A spokesperson for the School Construction Authority, which designs and builds public school facilities for the Department of Education, did not identify any cause for the collapse, noting that the incident remains under investigation.
