2 dead, 4 hurt in crane accident at Miami condo construction site

A crane collapsed Tuesday at a construction site for a high-rise condominium, killing two workers, injuring four and smashing into a home that the contractor had been using as an office, police said.

Rescue workers were going through the rubble at the site of the more than 40-story luxury condo tower on Biscayne Bay. Fire officials said rescue efforts were hampered because the crane remained unstable.

Officials were unsure how the crane fell.

"I watched it go through the roof. It was a disaster," Mike Huffstutlear, a drywall supervisor, told The Miami Herald.

One of those killed died at the scene and the other at a hospital, Miami police spokesman Delrish Moss said. The injured were in serious but not critical condition, Moss said.

Parts of the home near the construction site were destroyed by the crane. Miami fire spokesman Ignatius Carroll said the building was used in the movie "There's Something About Mary."

Workers at the sales office for the Paramount Bay condo complex said they had no details about the accident or what construction company was on site. The tower developer, Royal Palms Communities, did not return a phone message seeking comment.

The accident came 10 days after a 20-story crane collapsed at a New York construction site, killing seven people.

The U.S. Office of Safety and Health Administration did not immediately return phone messages Tuesday.

Tower cranes and crane operators are not licensed or regulated by the state of Florida, but bills moving through both houses of the Legislature would change that.