VINEGAR HILL — Four workers were temporarily trapped after their elevator got stuck 200 feet underground at a Brooklyn power plant Wednesday morning and had to be lifted out by a pulley system one by one, the FDNY said.
A Con Edison worker and three contractors became stuck when the elevator malfunctioned at 7:40 a.m. at the Con Edison's power plant located at 1 Hudson Ave on the Brooklyn waterfront, authorities said.
The men were headed down to an underground utility tunnel that runs under the East River between Brooklyn and Manhattan, Con Edison officials said.
The men suffered minor injuries during the incident, FDNY spokesman Jim Long said. He said it was unclear how they were hurt, but FDNY Chief Medical Director Dr. Glenn Asaeda, who assisted the men at the scene, said they told him the lift had dropped "a little."
FDNY Special Operations Lt. Sean Parker, who led the rescue, said, "They were great, honestly were all very calm. They were hurt a little bit but nobody was really in a lot of pain so we didn’t have to think about getting any medical help down into the elevator."
Firefighters used a pulley system, with each man fastened to a harness one by one and lifted up to the ground level.
“It’s a very intricate operation," Long said. Each person took about 20 minutes to lift above ground. “It’s just a real tedious operation."
"They’re all stable. They're all healthy. We have medics on scene. Doctors on scene.”
Second and third workers rescued from @ConEdison elevator shaft. pic.twitter.com/eUhNsIHH3F
— Gwynne Hogan (@GwynneFitz) July 5, 2017
As the workers resurfaced from below ground they were rushed on stretchers to Brooklyn Hospital.
Two of the men were conscious and alert as emergency workers lifted them into ambulances on stretchers outside the Con Edison plant, one with a smear of blood on his cheek from a small cut near his left eye.
The stalled elevator had been inspected by the Department of Buildings in June, according to Mike Clendenin, a spokesman for Con Edison, though the DOB didn't return a request for comment immediately.
