Harrowing Video Shows Window Washer Clinging To Rope As Scaffolding Collapses

Sept. 26, 2018, 1:41 p.m.

A scaffolding collapse in Manhattan left a window-washer stranded sixteen stories above the ground on Monday.

A scaffolding collapse in Manhattan left two window-washers stranded sixteen stories above the ground on Monday—forcing one of them to cling to a rope as the platform dangled dangerously beneath him, according to a harrowing eyewitness video.

An FDNY spokesperson says they received the call about malfunctioning scaffolding at West 30th Street and Eighth Avenue—just south of Penn Station—at about 10 a.m. on Monday. By the time first responders arrived, one of the workers had managed to self-evacuate from a window.

Firefighters soon pulled the second worker in through a window, but not before video footage captured him standing on the dangling scaffolding, clutching a rope apparently connected to the roof.

An FDNY spokesperson said he did not believe the scaffolding fell to the ground. The Department of Buildings said they have not been contacted.

Neither of the men were harmed in the incident, authorities said, and the incident is under investigation.