Two investigations have been launched into the collapse of an 240-foot-tall wind turbine in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, believed to be the first catastrophic failure of its kind in Canada.

Montreal-based Enercon Canada Inc. confirmed that workers were told to leave the tower before it buckled and toppled into a tangled heap on Aug. 17.

The Canadian Wind Energy Association issued a statement saying it was not aware of a similar failure among the more than 6,000 wind turbines in Canada.

It’s rare for wind turbines to collapse, but it has happened.

On Feb. 25, no one was injured when a 360-foot high Vestas turbine fell in a field in Elkton, Mich., during a winter storm, the Detroit Free Press reported.

In January 2015, a 300-foot high turbine fell over on a mountainside in Northern Ireland, the Daily Telegraph reported. No one was injured, but debris was scattered across the site.

By the end of 2015, there were more than 300,000 wind turbines scattered around the world, according to the Global Energy Wind Council.

Source: The Toronto Star