A drill rig fell onto State Street late Tuesday night, closing southbound lanes at 200 S. (Mengshin Ling/Deseret News)
SALT LAKE CITY — One person was injured, and the southbound lanes of State Street near 200 S. remained partially closed after a construction drill rig crashed, causing it to fall out of the sky Tuesday night.
The injured person was the drill rig operator. He is expected to recover soon after an equipment extension fell while he was preparing the soil for a foundation at a construction site.
“This morning, we are happy to report that the drill rig operator’s supervisors have updated us on his condition this morning, and the report is good; he was diagnosed to have a small fracture in his lower back, and latest reports are that there will be no treatment other than rest.”
– Jacobsen Construction Company
Jacobsen Construction reported a subcontractor was working on a building’s foundation drilling when the rig toppled over into State Street.
The company is still investigating what caused the rig to topple and is planning to suspend operations for the next day or so. The equipment that fell into two southbound lanes of traffic on State Street will remain in place for those 24 hours. Traffic will be diverted during that time.
Jill Wiscomb was coming out of a show at Eccles Theater, telling KSL TV that one of the cars the crane came down on looked familiar.
“My husband said that’s where I parked, and I said I think that’s my car that’s underneath that crane that’s smashed,” according to Wiscomb.
She says the crane fell about five minutes before they came out of the theater, which was pretty alarming, but she and a group of friends say they were relieved no one else was injured in the car wreckage.