Photo: CHUNYIP WONG / E+ / Getty Images
A partial crane collapse killed a construction worker and left two people hospitalized in South Florida Thursday afternoon (April 4), according to WTVJ. Fort Lauderdale fire officials confirmed a portion of a crane fell onto the Southeast 3rd Avenue bridge over the New River in downtown Fort Lauderdale around 4:30 p.m.
A construction crew was adding sections to a crane to make it taller when a platform fell from the 43-story apartment building, causing pieces of the crane to fall onto traffic below. A worker fell with the plummeting debris, killing them, firefighters said. The crane pieces also crushed a car and damaged at least two more vehicles.
Two people who were in vehicles at the time of the collapse were rushed to the hospital. One was listed in stable condition, and the other suffered minor injuries. A third person was treated at the scene, according to reporters.
Several neighbors told the news station about hearing "unsettling" screams and a loud "boom" when the crane piece fell from the sky.
"It was really shocking," a woman who lives in the area told the news station. "It was very traumatizing ... to hear the 'boom' — I was terrified and shocked."
A Tesla driver recounted the horrifying experience of the crane smashing his car and bouncing onto another vehicle.
"I felt a compression, and I looked up and I saw the blue structure coming down, and I slammed on my brakes," Mark Cerezin told WTVJ. "It sheared off the front of my Tesla and all the airbags went off — and I’m very lucky to be alive."
Officials shut down traffic on Southeast 3rd Avenue in both directions and reopened the road Friday morning (April 5).
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is investigating the crane collapse.