Children Evacuated from St. Luke's Day School Tuesday After Crane Collapse

UPDATE (2/12/13, 5:25 p.m.): St. Luke's Day School will remain closed on Wednesday.

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Children in classes at St. Luke's Day School at St. Lukes Church were evacuated and sent home Tuesday morning after a crane collapse occurred while workers were attempting to work on a cell phone tower on the church steeple. Parents picked up their children.

Fairfax County Fire and Rescue received an emergency call from the scene at 10:37 a.m.

Workers from B&M Tower Technology were at the church Tuesday morning working on a cell phone tower on the church steeple. A malfunction jostled two workers in a basket while it was in the air.

The workers sustained non-life-threatening injuries, said Brian Bendell, incident commander with Fairfax County Fire and Rescue. An operator quickly attempted to lower the basket after the malfunction.

Officials were uncertain whether the roof or steeple was damaged during the collapse and building inspectors were headed to the scene at about noon Tuesday to check for any damage.

Sixty children at the school were evacuated in case of any structural damage to the building. No one in the school was injured. 

"We're glad everyone's safe," said the Rev. Ketlan Solak. "We hope the damage isn't too bad." 

Officials were denying entrance to the church as of about noon Tuesday. No major structural damage could be seen.

Patch will update this story when new information becomes available.