3 Workers Killed in Television Tower Accident

MIAMI GARDENS, FL — Three workers fell to their death on Wednesday afternoon, according to Miami-Dade Fire Rescue. The accident happened around 4 p.m. The workers were reportedly installing a new antenna for WSVN Channel 7, the local Fox affiliate in Miami.

"A tower collapsed underneath three guys," Lt. Lay Felipe of Miami-Dade Fire Rescue told Patch shortly after the accident. "The three guys fell 300 to 400 feet."

Steve Ellis, the assistant chief engineer for WPLG TV Channel 10, which uses the same tower, told viewers that the workers were from a Texas-based company that had performed such work many times for Miami area broadcasters. He said that Channel 7 was upgrading its transmission lines and antenna to comply with changing Federal Communications Commission requirements.

"They were removing gear at the top of the tower to install a new TV antenna for Channel 7," he said on a live broadcast shortly after the incident. He noted that the gin pole was about 960 feet above ground. "When they were removing this gear, bringing the second piece down -- what they call the gin pole listening device collapsed, sadly taking the life of it looks like three tower workers."

The engineer described the company that employed the workers as top notch with respect to safety considerations. "Really the highest qualifications that you could have in a tower crews, just dangerous work," he said.

The tower is located at 501 NW 207 Street in Miami Gardens.

The three bodies could be seen under yellow tarps as a news helicopter hovered overhead. The yellow tarps are routinely used by Miami-Dade County under such circumstances.

Photo courtesy Miami-Dade Fire Rescue