MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. _ Three men died while working on a TV transmission tower for Channels 7 and 10 in Miami Gardens late Wednesday afternoon when the equipment used to reach the top of the tower collapsed.
The tower, at 501 NW 207th St. in Miami Gardens, is more than 1,000 feet high, according to Federal Communications Commission records. The men were working at a gin pole attached to the tower, WSVN Channel 7 reported. The pole collapsed, the station said.
"There were some other gentlemen in a trailer and some other guys on the ground who were able to run away as the crane fell," Miami Gardens Police Chief Delma Noel-Pratt said.
Late into the night, crime scene tape blocked off 207th Street near the Miami-Dade County line. Investigators were combing the site to determine what happened. The top of the tower had what appeared to be frayed wires.
TV news footage showed the three bodies covered in yellow tarps.
Eric Garner, who was taking out his garbage and lives across the street from the tower, said he heard a "loud boom" and saw debris flying in the air.
"It sounded like a grenade," he said, noting he saw the three men working at the top of the tower before the collapse.
WPLG Channel 10 reported that the tower transmits signals for WPLG and WSVN Channel 7 and the men were contract workers from Tower King II.
WSVN-TV owner and president Edmund Ansin released a statement to the station that said, "We are saddened by this tragic event. Our deepest sympathies go out to the families of the three men who died. They worked for a company hired by Channel 7 to perform work on the tower that was required by the (Federal Communications Commission)."
Tower King II is a Cedar Hill, Texas, company that builds and maintains television antennas.
According to the FCC Antenna Tower Registration, the 1,032-foot tower was built in 2009 and is owned by Miami Tower, LLC, which has the same Pembroke Park address as WPLG and whose contacts have WPLG.com email addresses.
