Miami leaders discuss safety plan after debris from Brickell building demolition falls to sidewalk
MIAMI - City leaders are discussing the next steps to keep residents safe after part of a building that was being demolished in Brickell fell to the sidewalk below over the weekend.
"It was like a huge noise, it felt like an earthquake, we thought it was an explosion of some sort," said Elias Mercado who lives in the area.
"Anyone walking under that could have potentially been very, very injured, it could've been fatal," said Miami Fire Rescue Lt. Pete Sanchez.
According to Miami Police, the incident occurred in the area of 700 Brickell Ave., where video from the social media account ONLYINDADE showed what appeared to be an excavator digging into the upper levels of the structure and knocking a large piece of debris onto the road below.
No injuries were reported but drivers and pedestrians were left in shock at the scene.
"Oh my God, that's terrifying actually. That's really scary given the number of pedestrians that come through this area and the number of tourists that walk here every day," said concerned resident Stephanie Slesinger.
The City of Miami posted a statement regarding the incident in the comments section of ONLYINDADE's Instagram post:
"The City of Miami's Building Department is aware of the incident that took place this afternoon at a demolition site in the Brickell area. We immediately deployed Building Inspectors to the site, red-tagged the site and stopped all demolition activities. An emergency meeting has been scheduled for Monday with the demolition contractor and ownership to discuss the unsafe manner in which this site had been conducting demolition activities. Demolition activities will not be allowed to resume until we fully understand what transpired, what safety measures were overlooked that lead to the incident and what polices, site conditions, and activities will be amended to ensure this does not occur again. Jobsite will not be allow to resume with demo activities until these activities are approved by the Building Department and fully implemented."
Police have blocked off Brickell Avenue through South Miami Avenue mid-block on 7th Street and are asking everyone to take alternative routes until further notice.