Police have identified the construction worker who was killed when a portion of a crane fell onto the Southeast 3rd Avenue bridge in downtown Fort Lauderdale Thursday, crushing a car and injuring three other people.
According to Fort Lauderdale Police, the victim was 27-year-old Jorge De La Torre.
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WATCH HEREA Facebook post from what appears to be De La Torre's wife or girlfriend shows his name, birthday and Thursday's date when he died.
"God took you from me & I'll never know why. I will love you for the rest of my life. You were a great dad, an annoyingly funny best friend, the best provider and the love of my life," the post reads.
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It included two photos, including one of him with two young kids.
One of the workers at the site, who spoke with NBC6 off camera, shared his remorse over what happened.
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“Yes, this is very difficult to deal with," the worker said. "Nothing but sadness, nothing but sadness, it’s a fellow worker.”
Police identified the three other people injured as Gemmalyn Castillo, 37, Gregory Garcia, 43, and Carol Zinser, 69.
The incident happened at around 4:30 p.m. Thursday on the bridge over the New River, near Southeast 4th Street.
Fort Lauderdale fire officials said in a news conference said a construction crew was in the process of "stepping the crane" by adding sections to a crane to make it taller when a platform fell from the building, along with pieces of the crane.
De La Torre fell with the crane section, causing fatal injuries, officials said. The crane itself remained secured to the building.
The crane section landed on the nearby bridge, damaging at least two vehicles. At least two other people who were in vehicles were transported to the hospital, one in stable condition and the other with minor injuries. A third person was also treated for their injuries at the scene.
Footage from Chopper 6 showed the crushed vehicle as well as another damaged car nearby. Several police units and paramedics responded to the scene.
Mark Cerezin's Tesla was damaged by the falling crane piece. He said it bounced off his car and landed on the vehicle next to him.
"I was driving and I felt a compression, and I looked up and I saw the blue structure coming down, and I slammed on my brakes. It sheared off the front of my Tesla and all the airbags went off — and I’m very lucky to be alive," Cerezin said.
One woman who lives in an apartment across from where the collapse happened said she saw the crane falling from the sky and hit the corner of a building. She described the screams she heard from construction workers as "unsettling."
“I heard an awful blood-curdling scream and so I think that when you hear a scream like that, I think anyone who would have heard would know something quite awful had just occurred," said Jennifer Parent, whose balcony sits just above the Southeast 3rd Avenue bridge.
"I'm thankful the people on the bridge were okay, but it’s very unfortunate that a construction worker lost his life," Parent said.
Tony Perez said he was coming home from work.
"I just look out the window, and I see a crane coming from the sky, and I'm like, this is crazy, it's really happening," he said. "And then boom, a loud, crashing sound, and it landed right on this car. It was like, fix or six cars in front of me, so I was just like, 'oh my God, it could've been me."
The crane piece fell from a construction project for a 43-story apartment building planned for mostly seniors, with a retail and restaurant space for the base of it. The $151 million project has had some issues with the construction company suing the developer, saying it was an "extremely small site given the size of the project." That lawsuit was settled. The project faced what the lawsuit called severe delays because the foundation had to be redesigned at one point — that led to even more lawsuits.
Nearby buildings were also evacuated as a precaution. Officials said the buildings were not affected and later deemed them safe.
By Friday, the roadway was back open and the bridge was operating as normal again.
Construction workers were also back on the job at the high rise.
"My heart goes out to the family, friends and co-workers of the individual who tragically died yesterday amid a crane accident on SE 3rd Avenue at the New River bridge. My thoughts are also with the two others who were injured," Fort Lauderdale Mayor Dean Trantalis said in a statement Friday. "I would like to thank our Police and Fire departments for their quick response to the accident. Additionally, I would like to thank the city manager and the leadership of FDOT for working closely together to ensure the bridge was inspected and repaired overnight so it could safely reopen. We will have staff continue to work with other government agencies to determine what caused this accident to ensure future safety."
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration will lead the investigation.
In a statement Friday, OSHA it has opened an investigation with Phoenix Rigging & Erecting LLC, Kast Construction, LLC, and Maxim Crane Works LP.
According to OSHA's database, Thursday's incident is not the first time an incident like this has happened.
In fact, this is the fourth death associated with work involving a crane in South Florida in the last five years.
Check back with NBC6 for updates.
