PHOTOS: Horrific Moment Officials Rescued 2 Window Cleaners Dangling Off World Trade Center Today
New York firefighters have just rescued two window washers who became suspended 69 stories above the ground while working at the newly completed 1 World Trade Center in Lower Manhattan.
According to the US media, the window washers had been lowered from the top of the building before their machine malfunctioned shortly before 1 p.m. Apparantly, one of the cables had snapped and they could be seen dangling precariously from the south side of the building. Crowds had immediately gathered on the streets below as dozens of firefighters rushed to the scene.
The workers, who were harnessed to the scaffolding of the window-washing equipment, were
eventually rescued more than an hour later, 2:15pm today uninjured, according to the authorities. Firefighters had to cut a hole through a window near the platform and then assembled inside, where they pulled the workers to safety.
At 1,776 feet in height, the 1 World Trade Center is the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere.
The tower opened last week, 13 years after a terrorist attack destroyed the twin towers that once stood in its place. See more pics from the rescue below:
