Workers trapped 250ft above roadway rescued

Published 19 Nov. 2008

In Pittsburgh two workers were rescued. They had been trapped in an air shaft above the Liberty tunnels.

After having worked in an air shaft above the tunnels they were about to end their shift at five in the morning. But when they tried to come up the motorized lift stopped. They were trapped…

“There was an equipment failure on their part. It wasn’t anything they had done.

It was easier to bring them back up to the opening they went in than to take them down to the roadway inside the tunnel.

It’s a slightly unique situation there, and hopefully something we won’t see happen again.”
– Chief Stephen Carlson, Pittsburgh Fire Department

The place where they were trapped is 250 feet above the roadway and 60 feet below the top of the mountain.

Using a safety harness emergency workers were able to rescue the two.

Neither one was injured.