One person was killed and three others were injured after part of a crane fell from a building in the US city of Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Crews were in the process of increasing the crane's height when a section of it came loose, officials said.

Pictures from the scene show the huge metal structure fell onto a car that was driving across a bridge, crushing the front of it.

A construction worker died after falling with the crane section.

Two of those injured were taken to hospital while a third was treated at the scene.

Officials said the collapse happened around 16:30 local time on Thursday.

At a news conference, they said a construction crew working on a high-rise was in the process of "stepping the crane" by adding sections to it to make it taller when a platform fell from the building, along with pieces of the crane.

They added that the crane itself remained attached to the building.

Officials did not name the victims, including the construction worker who died.

One driver told a NBC network that his car was damaged from the falling crane piece, which had bounced off his car and landed on the vehicle next to him.

"I was driving and I felt a compression, and I looked up and I saw the blue structure coming down, and I slammed on my brakes," Mark Cerezie told NBC 6.

"I'm very lucky to be alive," he added.

Another woman who lives nearby told the network that the screams heard from the construction workers at the time of the collapse were "unsettling".

Officials say they do not yet know what caused the crane piece to fall, and have closed the Southeast 3rd Avenue bridge indefinitely as they investigate around the site of the incident.

The crane section left a hole in the bridge, with city officials advising drivers to avoid the area until it is reopened.

The New River, which runs underneath it, has also been closed to marine traffic.