Worker dead, 3 injured after part of crane falls on Fort Lauderdale bridge
MIAMI - A worker fell to his death and three others were injured Thursday afternoon after part of a crane fell on a Fort Lauderdale bridge.
It happened at around 4:30 p.m. on the SE 3rd Avenue bridge in downtown, near Las Olas Boulevard.
Images from Chopper 4 showed part of the structure on top of a black vehicle. Another vehicle with front-end damage was also affected.
Images also showed damage to the pavement on the bridge.
Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue Chief Stephen Gollan held a press conference to update the media on what took place. He said the only fatality was a worker who fell along with part of the crane.
Three other people on the ground were injured, but are expected to be OK.
Gollan said a platform holding equipment failed and fell onto the bridge below.
"It's my understanding from the construction company that they were doing a process at the time called stepping the crane. It was not the crane per se that actually failed. It was a platform that they had equipment staged on that had failed at the time of the incident and those items fell from the building down onto the bridge below."
"The New River is closed in both directions to all marine traffic. The section of the crane that fell did impact the bridge, leaving a hole. So, until such time as the structural integrity of the bridge can be determined, this roadway will be closed," he added.
There was heavy police presence and traffic was shut down in both directions.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) will be investigating this incident.
