Man falls to his death after fire department's ladder breaks while fleeing blaze
WARNING: Distressing footage
A US man plunged to his death when a fire department's ladder suddenly gave way as he evacuated a blaze at a New York apartment building, shocking video shows.
Footage taken by a bystander of the fire at 3902 Ninth Ave shortly after 7am on Monday (US time) shows the man climbing out of a third-story window as smoke billowed out behind him – while a firefighter waited at the top of a retractable ladder to help him escape the flames, the New York Post reports.
As the man stepped onto the first rung, the top section of the ladder suddenly retracted, and the man went into a spinning free fall onto the awning of a deli below before hitting the sidewalk, the video shows.
The man, identified by the Daily News as Uber driver Ashiq Hussain, a native of Pakistan, was rushed to Maimonides Hospital Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead, a NYPD spokesperson said.
The firefighter who was atop the ladder was able to maintain his grip and stay on it while it retracted into itself, the video shows.
Police said two other residents were treated for smoke inhalation and a firefighter was taken to the hospital for a leg injury suffered while battling the blaze.
FDNY officials are investigating the cause of the fire, cops said.
Hussain's family, meanwhile, is demanding answers to how the ladder could have shot back so quickly and questioned if it was properly locked.
'I blame the Fire Department in this,' Hussain's cousin Mazhar Iqbal, 52, told the Daily News.
'They did really wrong. They took the head of the family. They ruined the family's life.'
The FDNY is investigating the incident and the ladder used in the rescue has since been taken out of service.
'We are aware of an incident that took place at an all-hands fire in Brooklyn earlier this week,' a spokesperson for the department said.
'As is standard practice, we began a proactive investigation of the facts and circumstances surrounding the tragic death of a civilian immediately, inclusive of our Fire Marshals, Fire Operations, and our Division of Safety.'
No firefighters have been disciplined or taken off duty.
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