Crane collapse in Miami kills two, injures five (3/27)
March 27, 2008
A 20-foot-long chunk of construction crane plummeted 30 floors at the site of a high-rise condominium in Miami Tuesday, killing two workers and smashing into a home that the contractor used for storage, police said.
Five other workers were injured, one critically, at the site of the 40-plus-story luxury condo tower on Biscayne Bay, according to the Associated Press.
The part that fell was a section workers had been raising to extend the equipment's reach, Miami fire spokesman Ignatius Carroll said. The crane's main vertical section was intact.
The section smashed through the Spanish-tiled roof of the two-story home, which police spokesman Delrish Moss said had been used in the 1998 comedy film "There's Something About Mary."
Emergency workers and dogs found no evidence of trapped victims, but fire officials said rescue efforts were hampered because the crane section remained unstable. Rescue workers were trying to secure a severely damaged wall before re-entering the house to check for anyone inside.
One of those killed died in the house, and the other died at a hospital, Moss said.
Mary Costello, a senior vice president for Bovis Lend Lease Holdings Inc., which was managing the construction, said the accident occurred when a subcontractor tried to raise the crane section and it came loose.
The company is cooperating with investigators, she said. OSHA had two investigators at the site.
Tuesday's accident came ten days after a 20-story crane toppled at a New York construction site, killing seven people. The crane demolished a four-story town house and damaged several other buildings.
Five other workers were injured, one critically, at the site of the 40-plus-story luxury condo tower on Biscayne Bay, according to the Associated Press.
The part that fell was a section workers had been raising to extend the equipment's reach, Miami fire spokesman Ignatius Carroll said. The crane's main vertical section was intact.
The section smashed through the Spanish-tiled roof of the two-story home, which police spokesman Delrish Moss said had been used in the 1998 comedy film "There's Something About Mary."
Emergency workers and dogs found no evidence of trapped victims, but fire officials said rescue efforts were hampered because the crane section remained unstable. Rescue workers were trying to secure a severely damaged wall before re-entering the house to check for anyone inside.
One of those killed died in the house, and the other died at a hospital, Moss said.
Mary Costello, a senior vice president for Bovis Lend Lease Holdings Inc., which was managing the construction, said the accident occurred when a subcontractor tried to raise the crane section and it came loose.
The company is cooperating with investigators, she said. OSHA had two investigators at the site.
Tuesday's accident came ten days after a 20-story crane toppled at a New York construction site, killing seven people. The crane demolished a four-story town house and damaged several other buildings.
