Collapsing construction crane narrowly misses workers running for their lives

A massive crane toppled over at a construction site in Florida.

April 5, 2018, 11:22 AM

A towering crane being used to build a new police headquarters in St. Petersburg, Florida, toppled over this morning, sending construction workers scrambling for their lives.

The scary incident happened at 8:23 a.m. and was captured on security video.

The footage, obtained by ABC News, showed the crane, which appeared to be about 10 stories high, swaying and falling over as workers on the ground ran to be avoid being hit by it. The crane barely missed crushing several workers, including one seen racing out of a dust cloud.

No one was injured in the incident and no damage was caused to the new police headquarters, according to a tweet from the St. Petersburg Police Department

The cause of the crane collapse is under investigation and officials have notified the Florida Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

PHOTO: A crane fell at the construction site of the new police headquarters in St. Petersburg, Fla., on April 5, 2018.
A crane fell at the construction site of the new police headquarters in St. Petersburg, Fla., on April 5, 2018.
PHOTO: A crane fell at the construction site of the new police headquarters in St. Petersburg, Fla., on April 5, 2018.
A crane fell at the construction site of the new police headquarters in St. Petersburg, Fla., on April 5, 2018.

Construction on the new $72 million police headquarters began about a year ago in downtown St. Petersburg, about three blocks from Tropicana Field, home of the Tampa Bay Rays baseball team.

The 167,519-square-foot state-of-the-art building is being constructed to withstand a category 5 hurricane, according to online information posted on the website of the Ajax Building Corp., the general contractor on the project.

The Ajax Building Corp. did not immediately respond to a request from ABC News for comment.

In 2012, four workers were killed and seven were injured when a parking garage being built at Miami-Dade College in Doral, Florida, collapsed. The Ajax Building Corp. was the general contractor on the garage project and was one of five construction firms hit with fines by OSHA totaling more than $38,000 for failing to properly secure and inspect columns and other structural elements of the garage.