Man Killed In Tribeca Crane Collapse Called 'Most Special Person Ever'
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) -- The man who was killed when a crane collapsed to the ground in Tribeca was a Harvard University graduate who immigrated to the U.S. from Eastern Europe.
David Wichs, 38, of the Upper West Side, was killed when the massive crane collapsed happened just before 8:30 a.m. on Worth Street near Church Street.
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Wichs was killed instantly as he walked along Worth Street.
Wichs was born in Prague and came to the U.S. as a teenager. He went on to earn a degree at Harvard, CBS2 reported.
He was a mathematical whiz who worked at a computerized trading firm, his family said.
He was described by his family as "the most special person ever."
``He really created a life for himself. He literally took every opportunity he could find,'' his sister-in-law, Lisa Guttman, said through tears.
Two people were hospitalized – neither with life-threatening injuries.
Dawn Kojima, 45, was taken to NewYork-Presbyterian/Lower Manhattan Hospital after the accident.
She was on her way to work on Worth Street Friday morning just getting a cup of coffee when the crane suddenly came crashing down, CBS2's Brian Conybeare reported. She needed nine staples in her head to close a gash, and she was also left with a severely bruised leg, but she was expected to recover.
Meanwhile, Thomas O'Brien, 73, was taken to Bellevue Hospital Center with a head laceration. O'Brien, of Easton, Massachusetts, was in New York visiting his daughter who lives in the city.
O'Brien and Kojima's conditions were described as "stable," police said.
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The FDNY said the third person -- a firefighter -- suffered a minor injury during the rescue and is expected to recover.
"This is a very, very sad incident. We've lost a life," de Blasio said. "It was something of a miracle that there wasn't more impact and thank God that the impact on people wasn't worse."
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