Collapse of Two Scaffold Platforms during Climbing in Miami, Florida

On the afternoon of October 19, 2016, two scaffolds, known as Doka, climb 60 loading platforms, collapsed and several pieces of debris from the platform fell to the ground from the 48th floor of a high-rise residential building under construction in downtown Miami. The loading platform was used for moving materials, formwork tables, and equipment in and out of the building. The incident occurred at the Echo building project while a pair of scaffolds was being repositioned from the 47th floor to the 48th floor of the building. Four people were injured and a fifth person, a by-stander, died of a heart attack while fleeing the debris. Two construction employees working at the site were injured while trying to get away from the falling materials; one employee suffered a head injury and the other suffered an injury to his knee cap. One of the other injured was a driver in a car, on the adjacent street, that was crushed by the falling materials. The debris from the incident forced authorities to close nearby streets to traffic.