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Worker dies more than week after building demolition accident in Miami Beach
Samuel Landis, 46, died Friday afternoon, police say
By Amanda Batchelor - Senior Digital Editor
August 03, 2018
MIAMI BEACH, Fla. - A construction worker died Friday more than a week after his leg was severed during a building demolition accident in Miami Beach, authorities said.
Miami Beach police spokesman Ernesto Rodriguez confirmed that Samuel Landis, 46, died Friday afternoon.
According to an incident report, the 13-story building collapsed July 21 "in an unsafe manner, causing debris and thick smoke to cover Collins Avenue."
Because of the debris that filled the surrounding area in the 5700 block of Collins Avenue, police shut down nearby streets for blocks.
Authorities said the former Marlborough House condominium building had a demolition permit but did not have an implosion permit, which would allow them to bring the structure down in one fell swoop.
Police said something happened during the controlled demolition that sent the entire building crashing down at once.
Witnesses said a piece of debris struck Landis just below the chest, throwing him several feet across Collins Avenue.
"The boulder hit in the center of his chest and threw him probably around 5 feet," witness Rodolfo Pages said.
Video shows the worker at the demolition site when suddenly a piece of flying debris hits his leg.
Then, an even larger chunk of concrete flew straight across the road.
"The boulder was about the size of that front-end of that Ford Explorer, and it flew across -- it literally flew across. It was in flight when it hit him," Pages said.
According to the incident report, an officer and a parking enforcement official at the scene rotated chest compressions until Landis resuscitated.
Authorities said he was then taken by Miami Beach Fire Rescue to Jackson Memorial Hospital's Ryder Trauma Center, where he was initially listed in critical condition.
Some officers were admitted to Mount Sinai Medical Center as a precaution because of the heavy smoke they were breathing in. The Marlborough House was set to be demolished to make way for a modern oceanfront tower.