FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. (WSVN) - A construction worker was killed and two people were taken to the hospital after part of a crane collapsed on a bridge in downtown Fort Lauderdale, police and fire rescue officials said.
Fort Lauderdale Police and Fire Rescue units responded to the Southeast Third Avenue Bridge over the New River in downtown Fort Lauderdale, at around 4:30 p.m., Thursday.
Aerial footage from 7Skyforce showed a large presence of first responders as well as two damaged vehicles: A dark-colored minivan and a Tesla SUV. Behind one of the vehicles involved, a big hole in the bridge, apparently caused by the falling debris, was visible.
According to fire rescue officials, a man and woman were transported to Broward Health Medical Center. As of Thursday night, they are both in stable condition. A third person, the driver of the Tesla, was put on a stretcher but was not transported to the hospital.
According to police, one of the workers was killed. The worker fell with one of the loads off the side of the building and succumbed to their injuries. The identity of the deceased worker has not been released.
The driver of the Tesla, Mark Cerezin, told 7News that he was going over the bridge when he felt some sort of compression. He said he hit the brakes, stopped his vehicle and saw the crane hit the minivan in front of him.
“It was just an instinct. It was just a reaction, peripheral reaction, slamming on the brakes,” said Cerezin.
Cerezin said part of that instinct is because of his car.
“I have a Tesla, it’s all glass on top, so I saw here coming down, and that’s when I gauged, I guess, by a split second,” he said.
Cerezin described how that split second saved him from the crane crashing down directly on him.
“Had I not slammed as hard as I had with my foot, I’m not here speaking to you. I hit the front of my car. It was like slow motion. And then I just saw the front of my car just disappeared,” said Cerezin. “It just, like, sliced it. Then that piece of metal bounced in the air and then went to the right and landed on another car.”
Video obtained by 7News shows Cerezin comforting the woman who was driving the minivan, who is seen visibly distraught.
Cerezin said he took off his shirt to help the woman. He is in disbelief that he hit the brakes just seconds before the crane fell down.
“There was a lady that was bleeding, and I took off my shirt and put compression and helped her,” he said.
Cerezin said he feels grateful and lucky to be alive as he was put on the stretcher.
“From, of course, this day forward, I’m just happy to go home to my wife. I’m happy to go home to my family and to my friends. I’m just so grateful,” he said.
Southeast Third Avenue will be closed for an unknown amount of time. Drivers were advised to avoid the area from Broward Boulevard South to Davie Boulevard.
Due to the hole left by the collapsed crane, officials have to determine the structural integrity of the bridge, so the roadway will remain closed.
“When a section of the crane fell, it did impact the bridge and leaving a hole into the bridge,” said FLFR Chief Stephen Gollan. “So, until such time where the structural integrity of the bridge can be determined, this roadway will be closed.”
People were being detoured at Las Olas Boulevard and on the other side of the bridge on Southeast Sixth Street, causing major congestion.
Fire rescue officials, meanwhile, climbed to the top of the crane and spoke to the crane operator, who said he was in the process of elevating the top portion to another position when the crane came crashing down.
“It is my understanding from the construction company that they were doing a process at the time called stepping the crane. It was not the crane that failed; it was a platform that they had equipment staged on that had failed at the time of the incident,” said Gollan.
The New River is closed to marine traffic in both directions. It is unclear when the marine traffic can resume.
7News cameras captured onlookers standing on their balconies as they watched the situation unfold.
Another video obtained by 7News shows the piece of the crane being elevated by crews. The video stops moments before the crane fell.
The man who recorded the video, Jason Taub, said he’s been watching the construction and saw it going up. Then, when he stopped recording, he heard a ‘pop’ sound and saw the collapse.
“I saw a blue piece of the crane that was being hoisted up, 20 minutes before it happened. All of a sudden I hear a pop,” said Taub. “And then I see the piece tumbling and tumbling down.”
Taub said he’s never seen anything like that and is shocked that additional people were not hurt as a result of the collapse.
“The bridge was full, I mean cars going in each direction, so it’s just amazing that more vehicles were not affected and more people,” said Taub.
A man and woman who live on the ninth floor of the building in front of the construction site also spoke to 7News They said they saw the moment the crane fell from their balcony.
“All of a sudden, I look outside, and in slow motion, you see the crane falling, and I screamed ‘Oh, my God’, and I see it fall right on top of the car,” said the woman. “Right away, you can see the driver walk away, but you can hear her screaming, but it was so scary to witness.”
“The big crane was falling down, and it looked like when it hit the bridge, it broke in part. There is a portion of the crane near the construction site, and the other one that hit the bridge bounced off the Tesla and then bounced up and hit the van,” said the man. “We drive this every day, so it’s a pretty scary thing to think.”
Both said they heard a loud noise prior to the crane collapsing.
Another woman, Cheryl Insalaco, heard the collapse from her Fort Lauderdale high-rise and saw the police response unfold.
“I saw policeman in every direction. They were coming from the New River, they were underneath the bridge,” said Insalaco.
She said several cars were on the bridge at the time because it is a busy area for traffic, especially during rush hour.
“They have to repair the bridge. We don’t know when they’re going to be able to open that up. Then you have all these boats going east and west,” said Insalaco.
Alexa Santos, who lives directly above the construction site, said she was eating lunch with a family member when she heard the commotion.
“We were having lunch downstairs, minding our business. All of a sudden, we hear a lot of commotion, crash, we heard the air horn go off, which usually we know, from living here, signifies that work is done for the day,” she said. “It was 4:30. We were like ‘Hmm, that’s weird. Are they done?’ All of a sudden, dozens of cops, ambulances, everybody starts swarming the area right where we were having lunch, right downstairs. We went outside, saw a huge scene, crazy commotion, and when we put two and two together, that a piece of the crane had fallen down, we were like, ‘Oh, my God, this is what we’ve been afraid of the entire time.'”
The crane is secured, according to officials.
On Thursday night, 7News cameras captured crews inspecting the crane and putting it down on a flatbed.
Crews removed the piece of the crane that landed on the minivan, and both vehicles involved have since been towed away. Crews also cleaned up the debris from the scene.
An investigation is underway. Officials with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, U.S. Coast Guard and the Florida Department of Transportation are also investigating.
Copyright 2024 Sunbeam Television Corp. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.