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A large crane collapsed without warning this Wednesday in a residential neighborhood in Hialeah, Florida, terrifying residents and narrowly missing several homes without causing any injuries.
The incident occurred around 5:30 p.m. in the area of 63rd Street and Palm Avenue, when a subcontractor from Florida Power & Light was performing work on a concrete pole in the area.
The crane, an all-terrain model capable of lifting up to 800 tons, had its arm fully extended and its stabilizers deployed at the time of the collapse.
When it fell, the crane's arm knocked down a concrete pole and part of a tree, and grazed some fences, but it did not directly hit any houses or vehicles.
Aerial images showed the equipment overturned on the ground, just a few meters away from several houses where families were inside.
Mayra Jiménez, who lives two doors down from the site of the impact, ran out upon hearing the loud noise.
"It was a boom, so I ran because I knew something had happened. It was very strong, very strong," declared Jiménez.
Another neighbor, whose identity was not revealed, noted that the wife and children of a man were inside the house that was almost crushed by the crane's arm: "I live right there, that could have been me."
Richard Alberto, whose home is directly across from the site of the incident, summarized the scene with a single phrase: "This is madness what we're seeing here."
The Hialeah police cordoned off the area, halted traffic, and kept neighbors away from the affected zone.
The Hialeah Firefighters confirmed that there were no injuries or power outages, despite the fact that the downed pole belonged to the Florida Power & Light network.
The company that owns the crane, Sims Crane & Equipment, dispatched additional equipment to lift the overturned machinery in an operation described as delicate and dangerous amid the residential neighborhood.
Hialeah is not unfamiliar with this type of serious accidents in residential areas.
In 2019, a Cuban worker in his forties was electrocuted at a construction site in Hialeah after striking a high-voltage cable with a beam on Palm Avenue, the same street where this new incident occurred.
In November 2025, another dramatic accident in Hialeah once again highlighted the risks faced by workers and residents of this city, home to the largest concentration of Cuban Americans in the United States.
The workers from Sims Crane spent the night assessing the best way to recover the machinery, in an operation that was still ongoing.
"It could have been worse, so we are grateful that nothing happened," said Jiménez.
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