MIAMI – At least one of the construction workers injured Wednesday after a bundle of rebar fell on them in Brickell is on a ventilator in serious condition, colleagues tell Local 10 News.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration confirmed that they are now investigating what caused the accident.
The horrific scene had workers yelling out in pain as others desperately tried to free them from steel rods that came crashing down.
What caused that malfunction is now the subject of investigation. We’re told a crane was moving that rebar into place when it suddenly fell, injuring six workers below. The company working on the project, Civic Construction, said in a statement on social media that a steel cage came loose as it was being flown by the tower crane.
“A bundle of rebar being transported from the ground level onto a higher level where construction was taking place had a malfunction,” said Lt. Pete Sanchez of Miami Fire Rescue. “It trapped three of them, and one of them was able to self extricate. The other two construction workers were actually impaled within the rebar.”
The bars pierced two men in the torso — they were still conscious when crews were able to get them out and rush them to the Ryder Trauma Center.
The workers had been on site since 8 a.m. Wednesday, building a new office tower in Brickell Plaza. Work at the site is now halted.
Sources tell Local 10 that several workers were making statements to investigators Thursday.
The wife of one of those badly injured workers told friends she’s been unable to even see her husband because of restrictions due to COVID-19.