A construction worker died after a portion of a crane fell onto the Southeast 3rd Avenue bridge Thursday in downtown Fort Lauderdale, crushing a car and injuring three more people.
The incident happened at around 4:30 p.m. on the bridge over the New River, near Southeast 4th Street.
Fort Lauderdale fire officials said in a news conference said a construction crew was in the process of "stepping the crane" by adding sections to a crane to make it taller when a platform fell from the building, along with pieces of the crane.
The construction worker fell with the crane section, causing fatal injuries, officials said. The crane itself remained secured to the building.
The crane section landed on the nearby bridge, damaging at least two vehicles. At least two other people who were in vehicles were transported to the hospital, one in stable condition and the other with minor injuries. A third person was also treated for their injuries at the scene.
Footage from Chopper 6 showed the crushed vehicle as well as another damaged car nearby. Several police units and paramedics responded to the scene.
Mark Cerezin's Tesla was damaged by the falling crane piece. He said it bounced off his car and landed on the vehicle next to him.
"I was driving and I felt a compression, and I looked up and I saw the blue structure coming down, and I slammed on my brakes. It sheared off the front of my Tesla and all the airbags went off — and I’m very lucky to be alive," Cerezin said.
One woman who lives in an apartment across from where the collapse happened said she saw the crane falling from the sky and hit the corner of a building. She described the screams she heard from construction workers as "unsettling."
"It was really shocking," said the woman.. Read More & See Videos