There’s a huge emergency presence right now on Clinton Street between Grand Street and East Broadway. A worker fell into a trench while doing some work at the Seward Park Cooperative. A rescue effort is now underway.
Frank Durant, general manager of the co-op, tells us the worker (an outside contractor) wasn’t injured. He was in the process of shoring up a wall in order to repair a pipe when the accident happened. The worker is trapped in gravel and rock. Durant said emergency crews are securing the walls before removing him from the area.
UPDATED 5:34 p.m. A short time ago, rescue workers got the man out of the trench and transported him to a Bellevue Hospital. Assistant Fire Chief James Daly told reporters that he was probably working about 10-12 feet below ground level to repair a pipe when the wall collapsed. He was buried above chest-level, but his co-workers reacted quickly and dug out enough dirt and gravel for the victim to breath. When a variety of specialized fire department rescue and medical teams got on the scene, they hooked up an i.v. and administered pain killers. The rescue effort took about an hour. A Con Ed vacuum truck was used to remove debris from the hole. The man did apparently suffer some injuries. He was in critical but stable condition at the scene and was conscious and communicative. We’ll update the man’s medical condition when we know more.
More photos from this scene from Chris Castillo:
And here’s footage of the actual rescue from Channel 4’s chopper:
UPDATED 6:52 p.m. Chris Castillo shot video of the fire department’s news conference:
