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PITTSBURGH, Pennsylvania (KDKA) — A man was rescued after he fell down an elevator shaft and was pinned at the bottom for hours, Pittsburgh authorities said.
Pittsburgh Public Safety said first responders were called to the 900 block of River Avenue around 2:30 p.m. on Thursday for reports of a man who had fallen about 8 to 12 feet down an elevator shaft without light or ventilation inside the abandoned Microsoft building.
EMS crews found the man in the pit of an elevator shaft and lowered medics down to perform a technical rescue while monitoring air quality for contaminants.
The man was conscious, but one of his legs was pinned. Medics gave him fluids and pain control medication before placing him in a victim harness and hoisting him out of the elevator shaft.
He was taken to a hospital in stable condition, though he has multiple leg fractures. Pittsburgh EMS District Chief Mike Rogers said he had been in a “horrible position” for about six hours.
“He’s pretty lucky to be alive,” said Pittsburgh EMS District Chief Mike Rogers. “Very good response, we work well with the fire department. Especially people that just found him and let us know because otherwise we wouldn’t have found him at all. This is abandoned. Nobody comes in here for any official purpose, so he would not have been found for a long time.”
Rogers said it’s unknown what he was doing in there, but it’s believed that he was with two other people who took off after he fell. Someone apparently called 911 hours after the man fell, but Rogers said he didn’t know who.
Inspectors from the Department of Permits, Licenses and Inspections were called to evaluate the building, Pittsburgh Public Safety said.
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