A man plunged to his death from the top of a 200ft CRANE, it emerged today.
It is believed the victim, in his late 30s or early 40s, climbed up to the structure in a builder’s yard after scaling a 9ft fence.
He was spotted making his way up the tall crane by a stunned onlooker at the yard in Plymouth at 6.37pm on Thursday.
Duty Inspector Mark Reed from Devon & Cornwall police said officers were at the scene when the man ”either fell or jumped”.
He said: ”Officers had placed a cordon around the site and an ambulance crew were waiting by. The fire service had been called and were on their way.
”He had made his way to just under the cabin, which we estimate was around 200ft up.
”We were not able to talk to him due to the height he was at.
”We were hoping to get fire crews to go up by crane half way and then use a loud hailer.
”We can’t say at this stage whether he lost his grip or jumped, but he fell from the structure at 7.21pm onto the builder’s yard.
”It must have taken him some effort to climb 200ft up the inside of the structure and then onto the outside.
”We can’t say at this stage whether exhaustion or cold played a part in his death.”
He added that police had been able to identify the deceased through documents found on him, but would not release his name until his family were notified.
An investigation into the tragedy has been launched for a file to be passed to the coroner.
