A MAN was crushed to death by a crane at a building site in Hampstead Conservation Area today (Friday, March 6). Witnesses report that at around 12.30pm the crane fell into a basement excavation at a property in Denning Road and that the worker was crushe

A MAN was crushed to death by a crane at a building site in Hampstead Conservation Area today (Friday, March 6).

Witnesses report that at around 12.30pm the crane fell into a basement excavation at a property in Denning Road and that the worker was crushed across the torso by the jib.

London Ambulance Service sent three vehicles and an air ambulance but when they arrived at the scene the man, in his thirties, was already dead. Police closed the road for the rest of the day.

No one from Harris Calnan, the contractor carrying out the works at the property, was available to comment.

A spokesman for Pennington Phillips, the architects behind the development, said: "We do not yet know the full details ourselves at the moment, but this is a tragedy."

Police have not yet formally identified the victim.

The death is being investigated by the Health and Safety Executive.

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