Fla. garage collapse survivor describes ordeal

Rescue officials survey damage at the site of a collapsed parking garage on the West Campus of Miami Dade College, in Doral, Fla. Oct. 11, 2012. / AP Photo/J Pat Carter

DORAL, Fla. For the first time, a construction worker who survived the horrifying crash of the parking garage at Miami Dade College's west campus is speaking out, saying he jumped from the 2nd floor in order to save his life.

As 27-year-old Anthony Williams spoke with CBS Station WFOR, Urban Search and Rescue crews resumed their search on Friday for a man still missing two days after the collapse.

"It sounded like an earthquake with the whole building falling down, like someone put a stick of dynamite in it," said Williams, a laborer, who had just started work at the site on the day of the accident.

Williams told WFOR correspondent Peter D'Oench, "I was thinking of my mom and my 9-year-old daughter. Right now, I am really shook up and terrified. I still have nightmare and dreams. I can still feel the building shaking."

"I remember coming back after my lunch break and seeing a crack in the building on the 5th floor," he said. "That was just ten minutes before this crash happened. I told someone about it. I heard a crash and saw the building was going down. I jumped from the 2nd floor and it saved my life."

"I did that to get away," he said. "It was my only chance. Otherwise I'd get caught and it would have been the end of my life. Right now my body is really sore. I jumped from that high a place. My legs and my toes hurt and my back hurts. I don't think I'll ever work in a garage again."

• Crane accident occurred prior to Fla. garage collapse
• Man dies after rescue from Miami garage rubble
• Worker freed from rubble of parking garage collapse
• 2 dead, 1 trapped in Fla. parking garage collapse

Two attorneys representing Williams, Robert Rubenstein and DeWayne Terry, are considering a lawsuit based on what the investigation reveals and what OSHA says.

"We don't know the cause," Rubenstein told D'Oench. "We are going to find out. "We're concerned for the families. Until we get information from OSHA and the investigation is complete, we won't know whose fault this is. A lot of people died in this tragedy. This is a tragedy that should not have happened."

William Byrne, the President of the Ajax Building Corporation that is the general contractor for the parking garage project, released a statement to WFOR after Williams said he saw a crack in the building.

"While we appreciate all information and feedback," he said in the statement, "it is extremely important to avoid speculation. This investigation needs to be based on facts and we have asked anyone who believes that they have pertinent information to provide that to OSHA. Our number one priority is to determine the cause of this tragic accident."

Teams have been combing through the debris and rubble with giant cranes looking for Robert Budhoo.

The missing man's family is waiting for word as workers search through piles of twisted steel and concrete. A portion of the five-story garage fell to the ground around noon Wednesday.

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[oregonphil]

I wonder, How many Illegals were working at the site?

[krissybrown]

I can tell you that the missing electrician Robert Budhoo, is not an illegal, I know this because he's my best friend's father.

[krissybrown]

I can tell you that the missing electrician Robert Budhoo, is not an illegal, I know this because he's my best friend's father.

[formerlyluvnut]

Somehow, someway, they will lay the blame on the workers, or at least try to. I agree with the faulty concrete. We will see.

[tmittelstaed]

I agree it was probably bad concrete. Concrete takes months of curing to reach full strength. Furthermore, while concrete is great for compression, it does not take kindly to many other stresses. These construction projects are usually using contracts written with incentives for finishing early that can be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. So the construction company cracks the whip and pushes people like crazy to get it done early. They figure that there's enough of a safety factor built into the design that they can get the project erected before the concrete is fully cured. And the architects design the building for it's full erection not for it's construction. A design that is safe when fully constructed and concrete cured, can be dangerous when it's partically constructed, putting unexpected stresses on parts of the building. Couple that with weak, insufficiently cured concrete, and you get a collapse like this.