Slideshow:View Photos From The SceneVideo:Dramatic Scaffolding Rescue In New Jersey
Two men dangled outside a high-rise with only a safety harness preventing a deadly fall.
There was a dramatic rescue in New Jersey, one you'll see only on Eyewitness News.
Two men dangled outside a high-rise, only a safety harness preventing a deadly fall. Eyewitness News Reporter Carolina Tarazona reports from Fort Lee.
Everybody who witnessed this is simply stunned. The Fort Lee Fire Department and police are here and everyone is looking up at this scaffolding, and everybody agrees that it's truly a miracle that these guys are still alive.
Extremely tense moments for two workers this afternoon in Fort Lee, New Jersey as their scaffolding collapsed leaving both hanging on for dear life. The men were pulled to safety from the fourteenth story of this residential building on Center Avenue. The heroes: Two Fort Lee cops and a firefighter.
Sean Peppard, Fort Lee Police: "We retrieved the first person out the kitchen window, dragged him through and released him from his harness. Then we went over to the bedroom window and then we pulled the second person in by his harness."
Authorities estimate the men were left hanging for ten to fifteen minutes before being rescued. Police say one of the mortars on the line slipped off the rope, leaving the scaffolding in a vertical position.
Both men were treated on the scene and showed no sign of serious injury.
Officials say that the U.S. Federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the buildings department are on the way to try and investigate what happened and how that rope got loose.
