MERRITT ISLAND, Fla. — The Brevard County Sheriff's Office on Thursday identified the two men who died when a crane collapsed in Merritt Island as 34-year-old Isael Martinez of Haines City and 57-year-old Hector Pozos of Kissimmee.

The men were pouring a concrete column Wednesday when the crane collapsed on top of them. Martinez was an employee of Baker Concrete, and Pozos was a day laborer who was also working for Baker Concrete.

Deputies who responded to the scene said the men were dead when they found them. Their bodies were taken to the Brevard County Medical Examiner’s office, where an autopsy will be conducted.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is on site looking into what happened at the construction site of the new Health First Cape Canaveral Canaveral Hospital.

The crane’s collapse also crushed a work truck and damaged part of the new hospital’s roof.

Work at the property on Borman Drive has stopped as the investigation continues.

Officials of Health First, which runs the hospital that is being built, say high winds and rain passed over the area, leading to the crane’s collapse. 

According to Spectrum News meteorologists, winds in the area at the time of the collapse reached as high as 55 mph.

Officials of Gilbane Building Company, the construction management firm for the project, say they are working with authorities on an active investigation to understand the circumstances surrounding the fatal incident.

Health First officials extended their deepest sympathies to the families of Martinez and Pozos.

David Hernly, a photographer who has been following the progress of the building’s construction, said the crane collapse reminds him of the five-story Harbour Cay condominium accident in Cocoa Beach in 1981. Eleven workers died when part of it collapsed as they were pouring concrete for the roof slab.

He said he is sorry about the workers losing their lives.

“Probably going to have memories here for the life of the building,” Hernly said.