A SILENT vigil was held in Bow, east London, today after an 85-year-old woman was killed when a crane collapsed onto her house.

A construction worker was seriously injured and is in a critical condition in hospital. A number of other people suffered minor injuries.

The 20-metre crane fell onto two terraced houses in Compton Close on Wednesday.

Yesterday, firefighters were recovering the body of the woman, who was named as June Harvey.

The vigil near the site of the accident was organised by the Construction Safety Campaign, which said: “According to the Health and Safety Executive, last year there was a 25 per cent increase to 40 construction worker site deaths, compared to 30 in the previous year.”

The group added that 360 construction workers have died from coronavirus.

“Shame on the government and the construction employers for largely remaining silent on this scandal,” the group said.

“We demand enforcement of all health-and-safety regulations and protection for construction workers from unsafe cranes.”