6 workers hospitalized after construction accident at I-395 bridge building site in Miami, officials say
Six workers were hospitalized after a construction accident at the Signature Bridge building site near Interstate 395 in Miami late Friday night, officials said.
Around 10:20 p.m., the City of Miami Department of Fire Rescue responded to reports of a construction site accident with reports of "trapped victims" located at 1490 NW 3rd Ave.
Upon arrival, initial reports suggested that crews found a cap beam on top of a pillar on the I-395 project "somehow toppled," throwing the six workers roughly 30 feet and trapping one of them, prompting the incident to be upgraded to a Level 1 mass casualty incident and needing additional resources, Miami Fire Rescue said.
"Firefighters began triage, treatment and transport of five victims and the Miami Technical Rescue Team (TRT) used a boom truck and cutting tools to extricate one victim that was trapped in the concrete form work platform," the agency continued.
All six workers were taken to the Ryder Trauma Center at Jackson Memorial Hospital, with five listed in critical condition and the sixth listed in serious condition, Miami Fire Rescue said.
The agency added that at the time, the platform was deemed unstable and posed a threat of a secondary collapse, forcing the temporary closure of the eastbound lanes of SR-836 (Dolphin Expressway). City of Miami Police and the Florida Highway Patrol were notified and secured the scene until it was deemed safe, Miami Fire Rescue said.
The construction accident was not a "bridge collapse," FDOT says
The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) told CBS News Miami that, contrary to preliminary reports of a "bridge collapse" at the construction site, the incident that had occurred was actually an accident during a concrete pour within the work zone.
"It did not involve the bridge structure or any portion of the roadway open to traffic," FDOT said. "All work was being conducted within a controlled and closed environment away from live traffic."
FDOT said some of the roadways were temporarily closed for first responders to gain access to the site, where the six workers were taken to the hospital for treatment and evaluation. Though the agency did not clarify what condition the workers were in at the time, FDOT said there were no fatalities reported.
The scene has since been cleared and all travel lanes are now open.
FDOT and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) are leading the investigation, and FDOT told CBS News Miami that it is working closely with the contractor to understand the details of the incident and it has mandated a project stand-down until internal reviews are conducted.