Mar 25, 2008 11:32 pm US/Eastern
2 Dead, 5 Injured In Miami Crane Accident
Accident Damages Home Used As Movie Set
MIAMI (CBS4) ―
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A victim of a crane accident in Miami is led from the home where a portion of a high-rise crane collapsed atop the Paramount Bay condo project into the roof of a nearby home.
CBS
21-year-old Jeremy Thornsbury and 59-year-old Terrance Hennessy are dead and at least 5 others were hurt after a portion of a crane working on a high-rise construction project in downtown Miami fell, smashing through the roof of a nearby home made famous in the movie "There's Something About Mary."
The accident happened at about 1:45 pm Tuesday at 2066 N. Bayshore drive in Miami.
"It's gonna be a day I'm not gonna (sic) forget...They were lifting the crane up and I guess the wind or something made the section of the crane fall out, or fall through the building," construction worker Chad Seymour told CBS4.
57-year-old Theron Cook sustained serious injuries in the accident. 48-year-old Russell Dyer, 31-year-old Emanoel Souza, and Mark Simone were all transported to the hospital with injuries from the crane accident
Miami Fire-Rescue paramedics were seen carrying out one victim covered covered in a sheet, and a spokesperson for the department said one person had died in the incident. Police later confirmed that Jeremy Thornsbury died on the way to the hospital.
Outside Jackson Memorial Hospital, a family member to one of the injured construction workers told CBS4, "He's talking but we're waiting for the results. He'll need some surgery."
Aerial pictures showed a portion of what appears to be the crane's body lying in a giant hole in the home's tile roof.
Local and Federal investigators aren't saying how the piece of crane fell. They're not revealing whether it was already attached to the tower crane, or if it was about to be connected to it.
The Paramount Bay condo is a high-rise 346-unit luxury complex. The 46-story building is located on Biscayne Bay and next to Margaret Pace Park.
Last week, the Miami-Dade commission approved an ordinance to regulate the use of high-rise cranes and to provide for the certification of crane operators. The county had been working on an ordinance since a fatal crane accident in 2006, but took immediate action after the collapse of a crane in Manhattan earlier this month.
No state law currently regulates the training or certification of crane operators. The ordinance does not take effect until 2009.
The general construction agency at the site of the fallen crane is Bovis Construction. Bovis subcontracted the work involving the crane to Baker Concrete our of Monroe, Ohio. Bovis is a subsidiary of Bovis Lend Lease, which has offices in Sydeny, Australia and London, England. The company showed sales of more than $6.15 billion dollars in 2007.Bovis was the general contractor involved in a 2001 Australian accident that prompted a walk out by more than 100 workers. The New York Times reported Bovis was also the general contractor at several work sites in and around New York where at least 3 workers died in accidents involving cranes.
The home damaged by the crane is known to movie viewers as a setting for a portion of the movie "There's Something About Mary" starring Cameron Diaz and Ben Stiller.
(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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