Matthew Méndez, a 7-year-old boy, was hospitalized in critical condition after falling yesterday down an elevator shaft in a residential building in the Bronx (NYC), authorities said.
Firefighters found the boy unconscious on top of an elevator in the basement of the building located on 1235 Grand Concourse yesterday just after 12: 45 pm, according to the FDNY.
The minor was taken to Harlem Hospital in critical condition with head and leg injuries, reported NY1 Noticias. “I am devastated, because the child is my adoration,” said grandfather Segundo Campoverde.
According to his family, the minor is autistic and ran away from the apartment he shares with his grandparents when someone rang the doorbell while his caregiver was in the bathroom.
“They are like four sure we have there (at the door), but he opened it so fast I wanted to pass out. Later we called the police and firefighters and they came and took him out,” Campoverde said.
The boy ran without being caught up to the roof of the six-story building. From there, the authorities believe that he accessed an elevator control room that has cracks with enough space for someone his small size to slip and fall to the ceiling of the device.
Department inspectors Department of Buildings (DOB) were investigating, but their records indicate that there have been 216 elevator inspections and other 42 Violations since 1992.
Earlier this month, also in the Bronx, a 4-year-old boy fell out of a 6th-floor window into a NYCHA building and miraculously survived.