(Adds witness quote, details; byline) By Chip East NEW YORK, March 15 (Reuters) - A construction crane fell on a residential building in Manhattan on Saturday, killing at least two people and injuring several others, the New York City Fire Department said. Greta Welkhammer, a witness who was passing by on her bicycle, told local TV station NY1 that she looked up and saw the crane "literally split in half." "I saw the crane crashing, splitting in half," she said, adding that she saw the building it hit "falling like a house of cards." "Everybody was running, running, it was devastating," she said. A Reuters photographer on the scene said the crane had completely crushed a building of several stories and cars on the street were also under rubble, with one car flipped over on its side. The crane also damaged some neighboring buildings. The photographer saw two casualties on gurneys on the street near the building, which was surrounded by dozens of emergency service vehicles. A Fire Department spokesman said two people were confirmed dead and a third was in critical condition in hospital. Others were injured and the rescue operation was continuing. The building was a small residential edifice between two other taller structures on 50th Street in Midtown Manhattan between 1st and 2nd Avenues. The crane appeared to have fallen from a construction site to the north. Local TV station NY1 broadcast an amateur video taken shortly after the collapse that showed the building completely enveloped in what appeared to be a cloud of brownish dust. (Writing by Claudia Parsons; Editing by Eric Walsh)
