News: Long Island Man Falls Into Drain
(Long Island, N.Y.) A fifty-year-old street sweeper from Deer Park fell into a storm drain in Uniondale on Monday evening. Unable to attract the attention of any bystanders until Tuesday morning, he spent the night inside the drywell. Authorities on the case stated that it took more than eight hours before the worker was spotted underneath the manhole.
According to reports, the man fell into the drain at around eleven-thirty Monday night and wasn’t discovered until six-thirty on Tuesday morning. A man riding his bicycle in the area heard the sweeper’s cries from below the ground. The trapped worker had been yelling “help me, help me” when he detected signs of a passerby.
It’s uncertain how long the street sweeper attempted to attract attention, or if his initial pleas for help could reach anyone in the nearby region. Nonetheless, the cries from the panic-stricken worker caused the bicyclist to immediately call emergency services from his cell phone. Rescuers and volunteers at the Uniondale Fire Department quickly responded to the call and attempted to pull the street sweeper to safety.
Local police and members of the Nassau County Police Department also arrived at the scene and helped assist firefighters with the struggling worker. Reports stated that rescuers took less than an hour to retrieve the man from the twenty-five-foot manhole. The depth of the well caused the fifty-year-old to suffer considerable injuries after falling.
The street sweeper was immediately taken to Nassau University Medical Center in East Meadow and was treated for two possible broken wrists. He also sustained fractured ribs and bruises. Reports stated that he suffered contusions and cuts to the face and was listed in fair condition.
The incident occurred after the street sweeper, who was privately contracted, arrived at the scene to help clean a parking lot. He removed a piece of plywood from the area and fell into the twenty-five-foot hole over the street drain. The plywood had been covering the manhole across from a Shoprite Shopping Center on Jerusalem Avenue in Uniondale.
Prior to approaching the plywood, the man got out of his sweeper vehicle. Reports stated that there was not a steel grate on top of the hole, but that one normally covered the area. Police and authorities on the case have reason to believe that the steel grate fell into the hole at an earlier time.
Followers of the story have questioned whether the county may be responsible for the man’s fall, and what potential lawsuits might result from the case. The incident occurs just a little over a week after two teenagers in Farmingville fell into a cesspool and later died. The older teen had jumped into the cesspool when his sixteen-year-old friend fell, and both were quickly taken by the toxic fumes.
