A construction worker died after falling 24 stories down an elevator shaft in midtown Manhattan Tuesday afternoon, police said.
The worker was at a building on West 46th Street and Eighth Avenue when he fell shortly before 1 p.m., according to the FDNY. The worker was taken to Bellevue Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
The victim and another worker were operating an elevator lift to install doorframes on the elevator when the car stalled about five feet above the 24th story landing, according to Department of Buildings spokesman Alexander Schnell.
One of the workers was able to jump down to the 24th-floor landing safely, but when the victim tried to jump down to the landing, he fell backwards into the elevator shaft, plunging all the way down to the pit level, said Schnell.
About 200 people were working at the site at the time of the accident, authorities said.
The Department of Buildings has issued a full stop-worker order at the site and cited the building owner for failure to safeguard.
