New Crane Assists In Recovering Body Of Man Who Fell Into Medley Silo

MEDLEY (CBSMiami) – A new crane was brought in to aid in finding a man who fell nearly 150 feet into a silo in Medley when it partially collapsed.

Pierre Mezidor, 58, was inspecting the roof of the cement storage silo at the Titan America facility on Friday when part of it gave way. Upon the roof's collapsing, Mezidor and rubble tumbled down into the silo.  A second silo that was attached to the collapsed silo was also damaged.

Workers spent Friday and Saturday removing steel and debris from inside of the silo to reach Mezidor. A large 300-ton crane was brought in Sunday to speed up the work, according to CBS4 news partner The Miami Herald.

Titan America, which owns the silo on the Titan Cement property in Medley, issued a statement on the incident late Friday afternoon.

The statement read, in part: "Officials at Titan America deeply regret the incident and emphasize that employee safety is their primary concern. Reasons for the structural collapse are unknown at this point but the company plans to conduct an exhaustive follow-up investigation."

Workers are removing duct, pipe, beams, handrails and metal panels from inside the damaged silo. The debris that is being removed is being stored in a designated area on site.

Mezidor, of North Miami, is presumed dead but his family is holding out hope.  Sophia Pierre said her stepfather worked at Titan America for 19 years.

CBS4 news partner The Miami Herald contributed to this report.