No injuries are reported after a crane toppled over at a light rail construction site Wednesday morning.
Emergency crews were called to the east portal entrance, near the University of Ottawa, around 9:30 a.m.
The crane was lowering a cement mixer into the tunnel when it fell over.
Peter Louch, technical director for the Rideau Transit Group, said the crane has supports that need to be deployed in order to counterbalance the weight of the load..
However Louch said the supports weren’t deployed and the crane started tipping.
The operator jumped to safety after a warning light went off in the cab.
Sean McKenny, president of the Ottawa and District Labour Council, said it's past time that the city and the Rideau Transit Group admit there is a safety issue in the tunnel.
"It's very similar to an addict - the first step into recovery is to admit there is a problem," McKenny told "News and Views with Rob Snow."
"Something is amiss here - it needs to be fixed before we have a worker die."
Mayor Jim Watson said any such incident is a cause for concern, but defended the project's safety record.
"This is a massive project - $2.1-billion - and we have one of the safest records in the entire province for a project this size," Watson said.
The mayor added he will await a report from the Ontario Ministry of Labour.