Crane collapse at Miami construction site injures four

Four people were taken to hospital after a crane collapsed at a construction site in Miami on Monday morning, officials said.

The incident occurred shortly after 8 a.m. in Brickell, an upscale neighbourhood in the city. Miami Fire Chief Robert Hevia told a news conference that he was relieved the emergency — which involved both a toppled crane and a burning car — had not claimed any lives.

"When you look at the site, it's incredible," Hevia said.

According to the chief, a woman was driving along a street beside the construction site when she saw the crane start to fall. She managed to reverse her car just enough to escape the vehicle before the crane struck it and it caught fire, he said.

The crane also came down on a storage container where two construction workers were inside. Hevia described a complicated scene in which one crew member worked to cut the trapped workers free from the large metal box while another tackled the flames.

The two trapped workers and the crane operator, who jumped clear as the rig tipped over, were all taken to a nearby trauma centre with minor injuries, the chief said. The woman who had been driving was transported to a different hospital, also with minor injuries.

Hevia said all other workers at the site had been accounted for.

Officials have not said what caused the crane — specifically a piling rig — to fall. Hevia said the collapse is under investigation. A piling rig typically shares the same base as a conventional crane, but its upper section is built to drive columns deep into the ground to support large structures.

The injured have not been publicly identified.