Crane operator saves man in dramatic high-rise fire rescue

U.K. firefighters were called to Reading's Station Hill development at 11.40am GMT on November 23 to find a column of thick, dark smoke pouring from the partially-constructed high-rise.

Crane operator Glen Edwards, 65, said he looked out his left-hand window and "saw a guy standing on the corner of the building".

"I'd only just seen him and someone said 'can you get the cage on', so that was it, I got the cage on and got it over to him the best I could."

Mr Edwards said the windy conditions meant the rescue was a "close call".

"I tried to put the cage down between him and the flames, but I was hampered by the wind swirling around there," he said.

Footage filmed by a crowd of onlookers shows the man barely dodging the inferno while climbing into the crane's cage.

Rescue services said a second man was also later saved by crane.

Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service chief fire officer Wayne Bowcock said he would "like to add my thanks to the crane operator for an incredibly skilful rescue under extremely difficult circumstances".

"Without their actions, we may be looking at an entirely different scenario," he said.

He said more than 50 firefighters managed to get the blaze under control with support from police and ambulance services.

Both men saved from the building were treated and rescue services said all other people in the building have been accounted for.