What to Know
- Officials said a bundle of rebar was being lifted at a construction site in Brickell Wednesday when there was a malfunction
- The rebar fell on six workers, and fire rescue crews had to pull three of them out
- All six were hospitalized, with their conditions ranging from serious to critical
At least six workers were hospitalized after an accident at a construction site in Brickell Wednesday, officials said.
The incident happened at the site of 830 Brickell, an office building under construction that will be the second-tallest tower in Miami, in the area of Brickell Plaza near 9th Street next to Mary Brickell Village.
Miami Fire Rescue officials said it appeared that a crane was lifting a bundle of rebar when it somehow malfunctioned and fell on at least six workers.
The workers became trapped in the debris, and two of them were impaled by the rebar, officials said. One was able to get out on his own and three were pulled out by rescue workers.
"Today, luckily, we were able to access all the patients, again, our units worked diligently to be free the ones who were trapped and hopefully they'll all be okay today," Miami Fire Rescue Lt. Pete Sanchez said.
All six were taken to Jackson Memorial Hospital's Ryder Trauma Center, where their conditions were between serious and critical.
Local
William Real, founder and CEO of general contractor Civic Construction, said the injured worked for G&E Florida Contractors, which is building the structure.
He said the crane operator, working for a subcontractor, Morrow Equipment, did not know why the cage of rebar, used to reinforce concrete, started to come apart as it was hoisted above the workers.
Real said it was only about eight feet above the third-floor deck when rebar started to drop off the cage.
All three of the companies have a violation history with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, according to the OSHA website.
Civic was named in three cases over five years resulting in over $8,000 in penalties for various violations, including a lack of an adequate fall protection system.
G&E last month was issued a notice for a similar alleged violation at another job in Miami, and is facing a proposed fine of nearly $7,000 for that, OSHA reports.
And in 2018 Morrow settled a fall protection violation for $8,300, according to the OSHA site.
Wednesday's incident also led to a nearby street closure.
The incident remains under investigation.
"We have the building department on the scene, we have police on the scene and the event engineer to determine what it is that happened today that caused this accident," Sanchez said.
Check back with NBC 6 for updates.
