NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — A store security guard and a teenager were seriously hurt Thursday morning when they fell down an elevator shaft at a Target store in the Bronx.
Authorities said it happened around 11:15 a.m. at the 700 Exterior St. store at the Bronx Terminal Market in the Melrose section of the borough.
The victims, a 16-year-old boy and a 29-year-old man, were rescued by firefighters, officials said. Both were hospitalized and are expected to survive.
According to the FDNY, both victims were fighting in front of the elevator at the fifth floor landing and pushed themselves through the elevator doors, where one man fell on top of the elevator.
The other became wedged between the elevator and the wall and landed in the shaft pit three stories below.
Before the fight, the teen had been caught repeatedly sneaking into the store after he was told to leave, sources told the Daily News. As the 29-year-old, a loss prevention officer, took the teen out of the building, a struggle ensued.
"We responded in approximately three minutes," said NYPD Deputy Assistant Chief John Sarrocco. "We found two victims in the elevator shaft, one on top of the elevator, [and] the second one past the elevator, in the elevator pit."
Sarrocco said the person on top of the elevator was removed immediately and is in serious condition.
The person under the elevator was much more difficult to reach. Firefighters used a rope system to pull them out of the shaft, which Sarrocco said took about an hour. That person is in critical condition.
It was not immediately clear which victim landed in the pit.
An investigation is ongoing.
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