MIAMI (WSVN) - City leaders in Miami are searching for answers after a building demolition caused chaos on the street.
According to the City of Miami Fire Rescue, a slab of a building that was being demolished tumbled to the ground in the area of Brickell Avenue and Seventh Street, at around 2:40 p.m., Saturday.
The work within the site was paused pending a meeting between city officials and those responding, Monday morning
As of Monday afternoon, there has been no word on what occurred during the meeting with city officials.
7News reached out to Pompano Beach-based construction company Alpha Wrecking, who are handling the building’s demolition. The company has not responded to 7News.
The developers of the project, Swire Properties, released the following statement that reads as follows, “The incident is under investigation. We’re grateful that there were no injuries or significant property damage. Safety is our absolute top priority. The site has been secured and work is stopped while we continue to assess what occurred.”
The construction site will be the future home of the tallest office building in Florida, which is part of Phase Two for Miami’s Brickell City Centre.
“It looks dangerous and it happened,” said a witness.
Plenty of people were walking in the area when the slab fell down. Luckily, no one was injured.
“I was riding my bike there in the morning,” Tom said.
Tom, who lives nearby, said he’s been weary about the ongoing project.
“I always try to stay on the right side, ’cause this is way too close to the road,” he said. “They should not being doing this.”
“We devised a plan, and we worked together with the demolition company, and they removed all the unstable concrete slabs safely, and now the work has been stopped indefinitely,” Miami Fire Rescue Lt. Pete Sanchez.
On Saturday night, fire officials vowed to that any crumbling walls were secured. The block has been shut down since,
By noon, workers were spotted back at Seventh and Brickell. It’s unclear what the plan is moving forward following this safety concern.
“It was just poorly done, and this thing ain’t going to help anybody, this cover here,” Tom said. “What’s the front of that, 20 feet to the road? Super dangerous.”
The structure is now secure, the street was shut down and is being guarded by a City of Miami Police officer. The project was also temporarily shut down.
A City of Miami spokesperson explained what will happen next.
“In order to resume demolition, the contractor is required to provide a detailed report into what transpired, what safety measures were overlooked, as well as what policies, procedures site conditions, and activities will be amended to prevent re-occurrence,” they said. “Future demolition work will be conducted only at night with full lane closures.”
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is investigating the incident.
Copyright 2024 Sunbeam Television Corp. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.