FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Federal labor safety officials began their investigation Friday into the collapse of a crane in downtown Fort Lauderdale that killed one worker, injured three people and disrupted morning traffic.
Occupational Safety and Health Administration investigators will try to determine what caused Thursday afternoon’s collapse, which crushed two cars on a busy bridge that crosses the New River adjacent to the Broward County Courthouse.
The bridge reopened after rush hour on Friday. A courthouse spokesperson said operations have not been affected.
Mark Cerezin, the driver of one of the crashed cars, told the South Florida Sun Sentinel that he sensed something was wrong and hit the brakes. Then a “big, huge, solid piece of blue steel” hit his car, bouncing off the bridge and onto the other car. He got out of his car ‘in shock’.
“I’m just grateful that I can go home to my wife and my friends,” he told the newspaper.
Fort Lauderdale police identified the slain worker as Jorge De La Torre, 27. Police said he had been working on the building that was under construction when the collapsing crane caused him to fall.
One injured person was hospitalized, while one was released. The third person was treated at the scene.
OSHA said Phoenix Rigging & Erecting, Kast Construction and Maxim Crane Works are the companies investigated. Phoenix Rigging declined comment, citing the ongoing investigation. Kast and Maxim did not immediately return calls seeking comment.
