VIDEO/PHOTOS: Firefighters in downtown Los Angeles on Tuesday morning rescued a man who was trapped for several hours in a vertical shaft after falling about 40 feet, officials said. The rescue operation was conducted on the side of a building in the 200 block of West Ninth Street, between Hills Street and Broadway. Video from AIR7 showed Los Angeles Fire Department personnel climbing step ladders to reach the top of the confined space.
The trapped man, described only as 39 years old, was placed on a rescue basket stretcher attached to an aerial ladder. Shortly before 9:30 a.m., the stretcher was slowly hoisted into the air and then lowered to the sidewalk below. “Patient reportedly experienced a long fall prior to being trapped for several hours,” the Fire Department said in a brief statement. The injured man was transported to a hospital in serious condition. The cause of the fall was under investigation.
