Aug 8, 2008 6:48 pm US/Eastern
Man Falls Through Subway Grating In Brooklyn
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
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Firefighters rescue a man who fell through the sidewalk subway grating in Bedford-Stuyvesant.
CBS
A Bedford-Stuyvesant man was injured after a freak fall through a sidewalk subway grating, and residents are wondering how this frightening incident could have happened again.
The dramatic rescue of the man was caught on tape, with footage showing firefighters climbing down a subway air duct, responding to call for help from the man 10 feet below. The victim was quickly removed and taken out on a board, his neck in a brace.
Firefighters say the victim was lucky to escape with only minor injuries.
"It could have been a lot worse," said firefighter Glen Steinle. "He could have gone head first."
G. Dowling was the resident who taped the incredible rescue from the fire escape outside his fourth floor apartment, knowing some people would have to see it to believe it.
"My thing is, how did it happen? The fall, I don't know how it could happen," he told CBS 2.
"This has been happening for years, "said resident Alzin Mack. "It's not going to change until they come and inspect these things."
Folks who live nearby say they think they have an idea. They say often and easily people collecting change lift the vents up. Hector Santana said he saw one of the grates removed Friday morning.
"I said to myself someone must have moved it, dropped it, and left it like that. And I went to call 311," he said.
But before he could make the call, he heard a scream for help and then the sound of sirens, a rescue that had made even the rescuers weary about standing or walking over grating in the sidewalk.
"I'll definitely be more cautious when I walk over them," said Steinle.
MTA and DOT officials agree with neighbors and say someone must have removed one of the grates and replaced it improperly.
The man who fell through the grate was taken to Kings County Hospital is expected to be OK, suffering some fractured ribs and minor bumps and bruises.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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