Crane topples during demonstration

By By Lynette Wilson / staff writer
Jan. 3, 2002
A crane being demonstrated Thursday for a South American customer of Mitchell Crane in Meridian toppled after a malfunction, according to a company official.
Walt Marcello, Mitchell Crane president, said his company was demonstrating the crane's operations not putting up a sign as was previously reported  on Martin Luther King Jr. Drive and St. Paul Street when the machine toppled,
There were no reported injuries; however, at least 100 Mississippi Power customers were without electricity for five hours Thursday afternoon as workers replaced a 95-foot pole that was damaged when the crane tipped, said Kurt Brautigam, Mississippi Power spokesman.
Brautigam said the crane did not cause an outage at the time of the accident, but damaged the pole that suspended the power lines.
He said, due to the size, a replacement pole had to be brought in from Hattiesburg.
The power outage, Brautigam said, affected Earthgrains Baking Company and residents of Sowashee Court.