Ladder Retracts, Man Falls to Death as FDNY Firefighter Attempts Rescue
New York Daily News
(TNS)
A tenant fell to his death during a rescue attempt from a fire above a Brooklyn deli as an FDNY firefighter tried to pull him to safety, startling video obtained by the Daily News shows.
Ashiq Hussain, 53, a hardworking Uber driver from Pakistan whose family was scheduled to soon join him in the United States, fell from a second-floor window Monday morning as fire tore through his apartment above the a deli in Sunset Park.
Startling cell phone video shows a first responder on a ladder trying to help victims when the extended top half of the ladder appears to retract as the victim comes tumbling out of the widow. It was unclear Tuesday exactly what happened. The video shows that as the ladder retracts, the first responder maintains his balance and grip on the ladder as Hussain falls, flips in the air and plummets to the pavement.
”Man down,” someone shouts as a first responder pushes a stretcher.
An FDNY source said the department is investigating how he fell, and what happened with the ladder.
Hussain’s family in Pakistan was set to soon finally join him in the U.S. The city medical examiner conducted an autopsy and determined he died of blunt-force trauma to the head.
“It’s sad. It’s really tragic,” said the owner of M9 Deli and Grill at 39th St. and Ninth Ave. where the fire broke out above.
“He was a very nice, respectful person. He comes in here, he checks on us, [saying] ‘Hi, how are you guys?’ He knows my father. We’re basically family. It’s tragic. Tragic.”
The deli owner said Hussain, who shared an apartment with two roommates, was eager to reunite with his wife, three daughters and a son who remained in Pakistan since he came to New York to make a living more than a decade ago.
“He’s worked hard for his family,” the merchant said. “He actually came in recently and told us he was so happy his family was finally coming.”
A family friend said Hussain’s wife had just a few immigration loose ends to tie up before she and their children could join Hussain in New York.
“He’s been living here on his own for almost 15, 20, years now,” the friend said. “He was excited about it. They were finally going to get the chance to be here as a family. He was actually looking at a place of his own to have when his family got here.”
He said Hussain’s oldest daughter is a doctor in Pakistan, a career he financed through his hard work driving taxis and Ubers.
The friend said Hussain worked overnight shifts and had just gotten home when the fire erupted.
The friend said his uncle was on the phone with Hussain after the fire started, and said Hussain was telling him everything that happened before the fall.
“He was the one to actually wake his roommates up and tell them that there’s a fire and that they should get ready to evacuate, and he was the one, I believe, who called 911,” the friend said.
”And just watching one of the guys successfully escape on the right side of the building and then him to see him falling to his death on the left side was just heartbreaking. It’s like this is a guy who literally saved two lives just minutes before he lost his own. A true hero.”
Fire officials said the blaze broke out shortly after 7 a.m., and witnesses saw bright flames and thick smoke pouring out of the second floor of the three-story building.
“Look through the window, I see smoke. Heavy smoke.’” said a woman who works nearby. “Then you see the big flames. … It was rapid. And then I hear the engines coming. So I ran over. I see them putting ladders up.”
“It was like a movie,” she added. “Like what you see in the movies. It was scary.”
The deli owner said he was frightened, too.
“A lady came downstairs, she’s screaming, ‘There’s a fire upstairs, call 911!’” he said. “We called 911, and we rushed out. We have water damage.”
The cause of the fire was electrical, FDNY officials said.
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