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FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. (WSVN) - The calls for help were released Friday showing the moments after a piece of a crane fell onto the Third Avenue bridge in Fort Lauderdale on Thursday.
The crane smashed into a car, damaging other vehicles nearby, and killing a 27-year-old construction worker.
The calls detailing how distressed drivers reacted as they watched the incident unfold.
“Someone is bleeding from their head,” said one person.
“It’s off Las Olas,” said a second person as they cried on the phone.
“Oh my God, I can’t believe what I just saw,” said a third person.
“We heard, just heard stuff from the top falling and people screaming,” said a fourth person.
“People are rolling on the ground. I need people here now,” said a fifth person.
“A piece of crane fell on the bridge on a car,” another distressed person said.
7SkyForce over the scene on Thursday afternoon surveying the damage.
“This is the upper portion of the bridge. You can see something went down here,” said 7Skyforce’ reporter Stephen J. Grey.
The huge part of the crane came down on Thursday afternoon during rush hour.
Police said worker Jorge de la Torres, a father of two from Georgia, was secured to the equipment and came down with it.
Onlookers reacted to the collapse.
“I see the piece just tumbling down,” said Jason Taub.
“And it was falling in slow motion and I screamed ‘Oh my God,” said a woman who lived nearby.
“I saw this big blue piece of metal coming down,” said Mark Cerezin, the driver of the Tesla that was also impacted by the collapse. “I couldn’t believe I was still alive,”
Witnesses in nearby buildings heard a woman screaming. Cerezin said he quickly got out of his car and helped the bleeding woman get to safety.
Hours later, experts were able to take a look at the damage. The crane punched a hole, that is three feet in diameter, right through the concrete but the drawbridge stayed aligned.
Crews temporarily patched the hole with a steel plate.
On Friday, the bridge reopened as officials said it was safe to travel.
Crews said it will take a month to design the permanent fix to the hole and then another couple months to install it.
On Facebook, his loved ones wrote “God took you from me and I’ll never never know why. I will love you for the rest of my life. You are a great dad and annoyingly funny best friend, the best provider and love of my life.”
The injured people who were transported to the hospital have since been released.
Investigations by several agencies, including the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, U.S. Coast Guard, and the Florida Department of Transportation continue.
KAST Construction, the company working on the high-rise where the crane was being used, has been contacted for comment on this incident.
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