4 people hospitalized after a crane collapsed at a Miami construction site: Officials

MIAMI -- Four people were hospitalized after a crane collapsed at a Miami construction site Monday morning, officials said.

The collapse occurred shortly after 8 a.m. in the city's upscale Brickell neighborhood. Miami Fire Chief Robert Hevia said during a news conference Monday morning that he was thankful a call involving a collapsed crane and a burning car had no fatalities.

“When you look at the site, it’s incredible,” Hevia said.

A woman had been driving on a street next to the construction site when she saw the crane begin to fall over, Hevia said.

“She was able to pull her car in reverse just slightly enough to be able to get out of the vehicle while the vehicle also caught on fire when the crane landed on the car,” Hevia said.

The crane had also fallen on a storage container with two construction workers inside. The chief described a “complex scene” where one crew member was cutting the trapped workers out of the large metal box while another crew member was putting out a fire.

The two workers who had been trapped, along with the crane operator who managed to jump out as the crane was tipping over, were all transported to a nearby trauma center with minor injuries, Hevia said. The woman driving the car was taken to a different hospital, also with minor injuries.

Hevia said all other workers at the construction site were accounted for.

Officials haven't said what caused the crane, specifically a piling rig, to fall over. Hevia said the collapse is under investigation. A piling rig usually shares the same base as a traditional crane, but the upper part is designed to drive columns deep into the ground in order to support large structures.

Officials haven't identified the injured.