A 56-year-old woman has died after stepping out of her car and falling into an uncovered maintenance hole on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan. The incident occurred late on Monday night, and the victim has been identified by her family as Donike Gocaj, from Briarcliff Manor, a suburb north of New York City.
According to police, Gocaj parked her Mercedes-Benz SUV at West 52nd Street and Fifth Avenue just before 11.20pm. As she stepped out of the vehicle, she fell directly into the open maintenance hole in front of the Cartier building. She fell approximately 10 feet (3 metres), and steam from the hole caused her to go into cardiac arrest. She was rushed to hospital but was pronounced dead.
An autopsy later determined that Gocaj died from both the fall and “scald burns with inhalation thermal injury” due to the steam often present in such holes. Her family expressed shock and sadness over her sudden death, which has been ruled an accident.
Con Edison, the city’s electric utility provider, is investigating why the maintenance hole was left uncovered, as no construction was taking place nearby. The cover was found about 15 feet from the opening, and authorities are looking into the possibility that a truck ran over it, causing it to dislodge. Con Edison said in a statement: “We are deeply saddened to confirm that a member of the public has died after falling into an open manhole. We are actively investigating how this occurred. Our thoughts are with the individual’s family, and safety remains our top priority.”
New York’s Department of Environmental Protection, which oversees maintenance holes connected to sewers, has received more than 700 service requests for missing covers this year. While injuries or deaths from open maintenance holes are rare, they remain a concern. A 2022 study found that from 2007 to 2017, 388 trauma patients fell into maintenance holes nationally, with 1% of those cases resulting in death.
