Austin,TX : Driver killed in crash with crane en route to remove Confederate statue on September, Sunday 10th 2017

A truck driver was killed when his vehicle slammed into a crane that was on its way to remove a Robert E. Lee statue in Texas, according to reports.

The crane was being brought in from Houston to remove the statue of the Confederate general in the Dallas neighborhood of Oak Lawn on Sunday evening when the semi-trailer crashed into it on the SM Wright Freeway just south of downtown Dallas, the Dallas Morning News reported.

The truck driver was pronounced dead on the scene by Dallas Fire Rescue, according to the report. The driver of the crane did not suffer significant injuries.

City Manager T.C. Broadnax told the paper that based on witness accounts, it appears that the truck driver ran a light, but a full investigation is still pending.

The driver was moving “at a very high rate of speed and failed to yield the right of way,” according to a statement released by the city.

“Obviously, we’re heartbroken someone lost their life,” Assistant City Manager Jon Fortune told the paper. “Our thoughts and prayers are with their family.”

The crane was badly damaged and did not remove the statue that evening, according to the report. It wasn’t clear how the accident would impact the timeline for removal, local news station WFAA 8 reported.

This wasn’t the first time the removal of the statue has been delayed, according to the Dallas Morning News.

Officials had hoped to remove the 81-year-old monument Wednesday afternoon — immediately following the council’s 13-1 vote to take it down. But the city initially ordered a crane that was too small, crews struggled to remove the statue from the monument, and a group called the Sons of Confederate Veterans gained a temporary restraining order delaying the removal until Thursday. A judge then dissolved that order, according to the report.

Then the city had trouble finding a crane with the capability to remove 12 to 14 tons of statue, the paper reported.

Fierce debate over the country’s Confederate symbols is still raging after an August rally protesting the planned removal of a Lee statue in Charlottesville, Va., led to violent clashes and the death of a 32-year-old counter-protester.



Source :
Driver killed in crash with crane en route to remove Confederate statue