A woman has died after falling down an uncovered manhole near a Cartier store in Manhattan, police said.
The 56-year-old plunged 10 feet on Monday night after stepping out of her parked Mercedes-Benz SUV, at East 52nd Street and 5th Avenue.
The New York Police Department told CBS News that the incident unfolded at around 11.20 p.m. When officers arrived at the scene they found the woman unconscious and unresponsive, the network reported.
The woman from Westchester County was rushed to New York Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center, where she died from her injuries.
CBS News reported that the as-yet-unnamed woman’s family returned to the scene Tuesday morning, to try and understand how the accident happened.
Her daughter-in-law was “visibly shaking” when a journalist from the network spoke to her, CBS News reported. She said that the tragedy was “so fresh” and claimed that there had been “no warning signs or barriers” around the manhole.
Video footage obtained by the network showed a Mercedes parked in the street, with a manhole both covered and cordoned off. The manhole appeared to be around 1-2 feet from the driver’s side door.
The NYPD told People that the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner will determine the woman’s cause of death and that her identity is being withheld until her family is properly notified.
Energy company Con Edison told ABC 7 that it is investigating why the manhole was left uncovered.
"We are deeply saddened to confirm that a member of the public has died after falling into an open manhole,” a company spokesperson told the outlet. “We are actively investigating how this occurred.
“Our thoughts are with the individual's family, and safety remains our top priority.”
The Independent has contacted Con Edison, the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner and the NYPD for comment.
