Crane crashes onto mall in Norway amid high winds; 1 injured

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — A construction crane crashed onto a shopping mall in central Norway on Friday amid strong winds, injuring at least one person and leaving another unaccounted for, police said.

The winds likely caused the unmanned crane, which was at least 50 meters (165 feet) high to slam onto the mall in Melhus, which is south of Trondheim, the Scandinavian country’s third-largest city, police spokesman Ebbe Kimo told the VG newspaper.

The crane collapse caused damage to the second floor of the shopping mall and firefighters were going through the building searching for people, police tweeted. Police spokesman Ole Petter Hollingen told reporters that they were using dogs and a drone in their search.

Local newspaper Trønderbladet reported that the roof inside the shopping mall had caved in. The crane was located on a building site at the Melhustorget shopping mall, which was undergoing an expansion with new shops and apartments.

Strong winds were reported over Norway on Friday, according to the Norwegian Meteorological Institute.