HELL'S KITCHEN — A hospital was evacuated early Friday after a man jumped to his death from a nearby building, rupturing an oxygen tank when he fell, police said.
The 31-year-old man jumped from a building next to Mt. Sinai St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital, at 1000 10th Ave., at about 2 a.m. and severed an external gas line when he landed, causing a leak, police said.
Crews had to turn off the flow of oxygen to the hospital and evacuate the emergency room while they made repairs and diverted patients to other hospitals, officials said.
"The oxygen tank was making a very loud sound. The Fire Department, the cops, everyone came," said John Boateng, who works at a garage near the hospital.
"It was scary. They said the oxygen tank could explode."
Eventually, workers were able to supply the hospital with portable oxygen and got it back up and running while they repaired the damaged line, police said.
The unidentified man was pronounced dead at the scene.
