Two dead in Miami crane collapse

Two construction workers were killed and four others injured when a crane collapsed at the building site of a block of flats in Miami, US police said tonight.

The crane fell on an unoccupied home that the contractor used as an office.

Fire officials said the instability of the crane was hampering rescue efforts. They say they are unsure how the crane fell.

The injured were in a serious but not critical condition, Miami police spokesman Delrish Moss said.

One of those killed died at the scene, the other in hospital, Moss said.

Rescue workers were going through the rubble at the site of the more than 40 storey luxury apartment block on Biscayne Bay.

“I watched it (the crane) go through the roof. It was a disaster,” Mike Huffstutlear, a drywall supervisor, said.

Parts of the unoccupied home near the construction site were destroyed by the crane.

Workers at the sales office for the Paramount Bay complex said they had no details about the accident or what construction company was on site. The tower developer is Royal Palms Communities.

The accident comes 10 days after a crane collapsed at a New York construction site, killing seven people.