MIAMI (WSVN) - Questions swirl and concerns grow one day after a drilling rig collapsed onto a busy street in Miami’s Brickell section and injured three construction workers and a driver who escaped her SUV before the heavy piece of machinery crushed her vehicle.
Brickell Bay Drive was closed between Southeast 12th and 14th streets Tuesday morning, more than 24 hours after the incident that added to growing concerns about construction in the area.
As of Tuesday afternoon, the roadway has fully reopened.
On Monday morning, rescue crews took all four victims to the hospital with minor injuries after the 85-foot drilling rig collapsed on top of the driver’s white BMW SUV and two empty parked cars, causing the SUV to burst into flames.
Dashcam video captured the moment the rig came crashing down and landed on top of the BMW just after 8:30 a.m.
Authorities said the woman behind the wheel of the SUV jumped out through the passenger seat and escaped just before the vehicle went up in flames.
“To be able to see the crane falling, pull the car in reverse and pop out of the back while the car’s on fire, really incredible,” said City of Miami Fire Rescue Chief Robert Hevia.
Witness Christiana Lardon, who heard the collapse, described the intense scene.
“As I was entering the parking garage, I heard a big colossal boom. It was scary because the flames were shooting up 30, 40 feet in the air.” she said. “And all the workers were just in shock and awe.”
The rig also crushed a construction box, entrapping two construction workers, ages 27 and 29, who were eventually successfully freed by first responders.
Miami Fire Rescue said the 47-year-old man operating the rig jumped out as it was going down.
“When you look at the site, it’s incredible. They have a car on fire, a crane collapsed and the construction box is heavily damaged,” said Hevia. “Count your blessings. God was watching over you today.”
The rig was being operated at the site of the planned global headquarters for Citadel LLC, a multinational hedge fund and financial services company.
In a statement, a spokesperson for Related Companies wrote:
“Our number one priority is the health and safety of our workers and the community. We are working in full cooperation with City and County building departments to secure the site and conduct a full investigation of today’s incident.”
Local city leaders voiced concerns about these recent construction-related incidents.
“In less than a month, this is the second time that it is happening in the City of Miami. Let’s see what’s not working, what happened here, so we can prevent this from happening in the future,” said District 3 City Commissioner Rolando Escalona.
The equipment and damaged cars were removed on Monday evening.
What caused the rig to collapse remains under investigation.
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