Crane collapse in Miami

[cosmicalstorm]

They couldnt let New York steal all the thunder now could they

Rescuers dug through layers of debris Tuesday, searching for a third person feared killed when a section of a high-rise construction crane fell and crashed through the roof of a nearby, two-story building just north of downtown Miami.

Two people were killed and five were injured in the accident at 2066 N. Bayshore Drive. Both of those killed were in the project's ''safety office'' when the accident occurred, police said.

Hours later, rescuers brought in two specially trained dogs, which found no signs of life in the rubble. The grim search -- now transformed from a possible rescue mission to a possible recovery effort -- pressed on.

''He was said to be in the house at the time of the accident,'' Miami fire spokesman Ignatius Carroll said of the missing person. ``I can tell you that we're going to be here for a long while.''

Witnesses and police officers said the accident occurred at around 1:45 p.m., when a crane extension plunged from the Paramount Bay Condo, a 46-story luxury building under construction in the busy redevelopment area east of Biscayne Boulevard and north of the Omni complex.

The vertical extension was resting on the 37th floor, crews planning to raise it, when its platform gave way, police said, falling through a nearby building being used as a safety office by the construction company.

''I watched it go through the roof,'' said Mike Huffstutlear, a dry wall supervisor. ``It was a disaster.''

Bob Silva, who works with a dry wall company, said he was standing between two loading docks when he heard an explosion and felt a shower of debris.

''All the windows were blown out,'' he said of the small house.

The damaged house might be familiar to many people around the country: It was featured in the 1998 film There's Something About Mary, starring Cameron Diaz and Ben Stiller.

Shortly after the accident, large groups of construction workers milled on a patch of lawn as supervisors barked orders, trying to count their workers. In a frantic scene, men began moving portable toilets and fences to make way for investigators.

''Everyone go home!'' one supervisor yelled.

Miami police spokesman Delrish Moss confirmed that two people were killed in the accident. One of the victims died at the scene, he said.

The other was pronounced dead at Jackson Memorial's Ryder Trauma Center, where all of the injured were taken. One of the injured was in critical condition, police said.

A family friend identified one of the injured as Manuel Souza, a safety manager who is in his early 30s and has a wife and two children.

''He doesnt know that people died yet,'' said the friend, Rosa Pimenta. ``It just fell on his office.''

Moss said it was too early to pinpoint a cause of the accident or assign blame.

''Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families of the injured and deceased workers,'' Daniel Kodsi, president of RPC Holdings-Paramount Worldwide, the project's Boca Raton-based developer, said in a prepared statement.

''This is a terrible tragedy and we are focusing all of our resources and efforts to cope with the aftermath of this accident,'' Kodsi said.

Bovis Lend Lease, the project's general contractor, said that one of those killed worked for that firm, but it was withholding identification until relatives were notified.

''Our hearts are heavy at this moment for the two deceased individuals, including one of our own employees and the additional injured workers,'' the multinational company's New York office said in a prepared statement.

The company said the crane was being operated by Morrow Crane, a subcontractor to Baker Concrete.

Construction worker Luis Alganaraz was getting up from lunch when he saw the section fall. He described the scene with one word: ``Chaos.''

According to officials on the scene, crews were in the process of making the crane taller.

''This is going to be devastating to our industry after the one happening in New York City,'' said Gregory Teslia, owner of Crane Safety and Inspections Inc. in Coral Springs.

He was hired within an hour of the accident to investigate its cause, but would not say who hired him or otherwise discuss specifics of the Miami accident.

Earlier this month, a construction crane collapsed on Manhattan's Upper East Side, killing seven people, including a visiting Hialeah woman.

In April 2006, a 47-year-old crane worker plummeted 39 floors from a high-rise project in downtown Miami.

In May 2006, three construction workers were killed in Bal Harbour, consumed by wet cement being poured for the roof of the 26-story One Bal Harbour project.

Darlene Fossum, area director for the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration, said the agency dispatched investigators to the site of Tuesday's accident, but were awaiting clearance from fire rescue officials before they could begin work.

''We won't be able to speak with anyone until rescue crews have given the site over to us,'' she said.

Bovis is considered to be a ''very highly reputable and safety conscious company'', Fossum said, adding Bovis two years ago was one of the first to enter into a partnership with the local OSHA offices.

In Florida, where development has made cranes a fixture of many city skylines, that particular element of the construction industry is neither licensed nor regulated.

''Companies, individuals and corporations cannot regulate themselves and inspect themselves,'' said Miami-Dade County Commissioner Audrey Edmonson, who championed a Miami-Dade new crane-safety ordinance that was approved just a week ago.

''I passed this ordinance for this exact kind of incident,'' she said.

The new regulation, which require cranes to meet the same wind-speed standards as permanent buildings, will go into effect later this week.

Some in the industry opposed that regulation as too strict and said it was improper for a local government -- rather than the state Legislature -- to establish the rule.

Previous attempts at statewide regulation have failed in the Legislature, but this year another statewide proposal is being considered.

When completed, the Paramount Bay will feature 346 units, with prices starting at $850,000, according to a real estate website. The building is located at the edge of both Biscayne Bay and Margaret Pace Park.

The damaged house, which doubled as Cameron Diaz's Miami home in the movie, is a Mediterranean-style 1920s building. It was spared when developers began razing the projct's site several years ago.

Royal Palm Communities used the house initially as a sales center, and planned to convert the house into a restaurant, the company said in 2004.

Miami Herald staff writers Adam H. Beasley, Erika Beras, Niala Boodhoo, Laura Figueroa, Matthew I. Pinzur, Charles Rabin and Luisa Yanez contributed to this report.

http://www.miamiherald.com/854/story/469684.html

[LadyTevar]

Are they the same kind of crane?!

[CaptainChewbacca]

Are they the same kind of crane?!

I don't think so. If I recall, the NY crane was building-mounted, while this one is sitting on the ground.