The rig was working on what will be a 25-story building near the East River in Queens' Long Island City neighborhood, behind a large neon Pepsi-Cola sign that serves as a local landmark.

WSJ: APNewsBreak: Operator cited in NYC crane collapse

Situated in what used to be East Berlin, when the city was divided by the wall, the building stretches over 1250sq m (13, 455sq ft) and houses a theatre, cinema, restaurant, as well as a maze of galleries and workshop areas.

BBC: Authorities shut Berlin's iconic Tacheles arts squat

More than 100 rescue workers, firefighters, sniffer-dog squads and bomb and gas experts were deployed to the gutted building in a subsidized housing complex in the city of Reims, east of Paris, officials said.

NPR: 2 Die After Explosion, Building Collapse In France

For those in Brussels outside the commission's employ, the most obvious sign of Mr Liikanen's efforts will come with the unwrapping one day of the Berlaymont building, the commission's former home on the east side of the city centre.

ECONOMIST: Erkki Liikanen, Europe��s housekeeper