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Two dead in Miami crane collapse

Damage caused by crane
Workers were trying to extend the crane when it gave way

Two people have been killed and at least four others injured in a crane collapse at a high-rise construction site in Miami, Florida.

The crane fell on top of an unoccupied home used as an office at the site of the 50-storey tower on Biscayne Bay.

Correspondents say the construction industry in the US state is unregulated and there is no licensing system.

The collapse comes 10 days after a similar incident in New York in which seven people died.

'Disaster'

Miami police said the injured were in a serious but not critical condition.

map
Rescue efforts have been hampered as the crane has not yet been stabilised.

Mike Huffstutlear, a dry wall supervisor, told the Miami Herald newspaper: "I watched it go through the roof. It was a disaster."

The Herald said workers were trying to extend the crane when it gave way.

The New York crane crash destroyed a four-storey townhouse and demolished parts of five other buildings.

A woman visiting a friend and six construction workers were killed.

At least 17 were injured in what Mayor Michael Bloomberg called one of the city's worst construction accidents.


video and audio news
Site of the crane collapse



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