Woman who died in London crane collapse named as June Harvey

A woman who died after a crane collapsed on two terraced houses in east London has been named by her family as 85-year-old June Harvey.

Her great-nephew, Sam Atkinson, 28, who lived with Harvey, along with his mother, Jacqueline Atkinson, 63, said the family were “extremely traumatised” by the incident.

He described Harvey as a “very caring woman” who was “loyal to her family”.

Harvey was found on the first floor of one of the houses in Compton Close, Bow, after the 20-metre-high crane fell on Wednesday afternoon.

Atkinson said the noise was so loud he initially thought a plane had crashed into the buildings. “We are devastated by our loss,” he said. “The last thing you ever think is going to happen is a crane coming through your roof. It’s extremely traumatising.”

London fire brigade (LFB) said firefighters were working alongside the health and safety executive and Metropolitan police to recover Harvey’s body from the rubble.

The crane fell from a building site on to a block of flats that were under development before partially crushing the houses.

A construction worker remains in hospital in a critical condition, while three people suffered non-life-threatening injuries.

The LFB assistant commissioner Graham Ellis said: “Our Urban Search and Rescue crews undertook a complex rescue operation and used specialist equipment to search the properties.

“Sadly one woman died at the scene. The London ambulance service have confirmed that two people were taken to hospital with head injuries and a further two were treated at the scene.”

A woman who lives next to the house that felt the full impact of the falling machinery said the collapse sounded “like an earthquake”.

She said: “I came out of the bathroom, and if I had come out a second later, the attic door which is above could have fallen on me and that would have knocked me out.

“The way everything fell – if my brother or sister had been in their rooms, which is where it hit directly – I just cannot bear to think about it.”

Another witness, who saw the event unfold from her window while working from home, described it as “absolutely crazy”. Bridget Teirney said: “I was sitting at my computer facing out as it happened. It made a huge loud noise and a big plume of dust came up.”