Watch: UK Crane Operator Rescues Stranded Worker from Fire

Nov. 25, 2023
A man trapped on a roof at a burning high-rise in Reading, UK, was plucked to safety by a crane operator.

A crane operator pulled off a dramatic rescue of a worker trapped by a fire in a high-rise fire in Reading, in the UK.

The man was trapped on the roof by flames and high winds in the Station Hill construction site.

"I'd only just seen him and someone said 'can you get the cage on', so that was it, I got the cage on and got it over to him the best I could," crane operator Glen Edwards told the BBC. "I tried to put the cage down between him and the flames, but I was hampered by the wind swirling around there."

The 65-year-old crane operator was able to drop the dangling cage on the roof and the man was able to climb in, with Edwards lowering him to the ground.

The Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service was able to contain the blaze with about 50 firefighters.

"I saw a black cloud go up and a ball of flames happen and all of a sudden I could see there was a guy trapped on the corner," eyewitness Steve Reynolds recalled. "There were bits of glass falling off the side of the building and he was completely exposed up there.

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