Crane Partially Collapses in Midtown Manhattan, Injuring 6

In a dramatic scene, a construction crane burst into flames and partially collapsed in Midtown Manhattan on Wednesday morning, injuring six people, New York City officials said.

The crane, located 45 stories above the street at 550 10th Avenue, collapsed around 7:30 a.m., after a fire erupted in the engine compartment just minutes before, officials said.

A crane operator, who was working in the machine’s cabin trying to lift 16 tons of concrete at the time, saw the fire and tried but failed to put the fire out with a hand extinguisher before he fled safely. As the top part of the crane fell, it struck a neighboring building at 555 10th Avenue.

Traffic was closed around 10th and 11th Avenues between 41st and 42nd Streets, near Hudson Yards.

Four civilians and two firefighters received minor injuries, officials said. One of the firefighters experienced chest pains and was taken to the hospital.

“This is a good morning, this could have been a lot worse,” Joseph W. Pfeifer, the deputy commissioner of the Fire Department, said during a news conference on Wednesday morning. Mr. Pfeifer said that over 200 firefighters and emergency personnel were on the scene.

People on the corner of 40th Street and 8th Avenue could be seen staring up and taking photos, and as each passer-by turned their head, a small crowd formed to watch and take photos.

Jordy Jimenez was washing down the sidewalks outside 33 West 42nd Street when he heard the crash. “It was a loud, loud crash,” he said, adding that it was not a typical city noise.

Tyra Robbins, 26, who works at a building on 10th Avenue between 34th and 35th Streets, said she went outside after noticing a group of people who appeared to be taking photos of the sunrise. Instead, she said she saw a crane leaning over the street and that, within a minute, it fell.

“It was like it fell in slow motion,” Ms. Robbins said.

“I just froze. I couldn’t believe that was happening,” she said, adding that she saw a piece of the crane snap off and hit a building across the street. “I heard the cracking, and then saw the fire.”

Larry Krasner, who lives on the 54th floor of a building next to the site, said he didn’t see the crane fall but he heard an explosion afterward.

“It was a big bang and then the fireball,” he said. He was working on the 45th floor of a building on Wall Street during the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, and saw the second plane hit the World Trade Center. He said he recalled that moment when he saw the explosion on Wednesday, although he quickly realized that the crane collapse was not nearly as big.

In February 2016, a crane collapsed in Lower Manhattan after the crew failed to securely lower it during wind gusts that neared 20 miles per hour and falling snow. A pedestrian was killed, and three other people were injured. The large crane had the capacity to carry 330 tons and was rated to withstand 25 m.p.h. winds.

Jennie Coughlin, Chelsia Rose Marcius and Judy Tong contributed reporting.