Cherry Picker Tips Over in Center City, Injuring Worker

Worker injured after construction lift topples over

A construction lift fell over in Center City Monday afternoon injuring a worker.

The accident happened around 2 p.m. outside the Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul at 18th and Race Streets, according to Philadelphia Police.

The Archdiocese says a worker was in the basket of the cherry picker doing work on the rectory of the Catholic Cathedral when the equipment toppled.

The 33-year-old worker suffered a broken femur and was in stable condition at nearby Hahnemann Hospital, police on the scene said.

"I thought it was a movie or something -- I didn't know what was going on," said Reuben Bolden.

Luckily no one on the ground was injured. Bolden says he stopped his car just short of the falling machinery.

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"I was coming from around the corner here and all of a sudden it just fell," said Bolden.

The cherry picker stretched across the street outside the Basilica after the accident as fellow workers and emergency personnel rushed to help the victim.

Traffic around the area snarled as it took hours to finally right the equipment.

This type of device is typically used to trim trees or access higher parts of building facades.


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