A construction worker is dead and another two were hospitalized after a section of a crane collapsed onto Fort Lauderdale traffic during rush hour Thursday afternoon.
The incident happened as construction crews working on a new high-rise were in the process of “stepping the crane”–raising the crane as the building gets higher–when a “large” section described as a platform came loose and plummeted to the ground.
Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue Chief Stephen Gollan said in a news conference that the construction worker fell with the crane section off the side of the building and succumbed to their injuries. They have not been identified. The crane itself remained secured, he said. The two hospitalized were in a stable condition, with one suffering only minor injuries. A third injured person refused treatment. Authorities said they are grateful the incident did not result in more fatalities given the busy time.
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“To think that no one that was on the ground was injured is unbelievable, this could have been a lot worse,” Gollan said.
FLFR units on the scene went floor by floor through the building checking the status of the workers and secured the area around the collapse.
A witness, Mark Cerezin, told the South Florida Sun Sentinel that he was driving along the Southeast Third Avenue bridge at approximately 4:30 p.m. when he felt “something was coming.” The next minute, “this big, huge, massive piece of blue steel” fell onto his Tesla, “bounced” off the bridge before landing on the car to his right.
His Tesla, according to the Sentinel, was one of the two cars pictured smashed beneath the piece of crane.
He added, according to CBS: “I felt some type of compression, and I looked up and I saw this big, huge piece of blue metal coming down and I slammed on the brakes and then it hit the front of my car. It was like slow motion, then that piece of metal bounced in the air and then went to the right and landed on another car. I couldn’t believe that I was still alive.”
