3 Suffer Minor Injuries After Electrical Panel Explosion At Hilton New York
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- An explosion at a Midtown hotel Wednesday afternoon sent people running into the streets, while others were stuck inside an elevator.
Three contractors, who were working on a pair of electrical panels in the basement of the Hilton New York on West 53rd Street and Sixth Avenue, suffered minor injuries after something caused a spark, followed by a boom.
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One of the electricians suffered a burn to his hand, another worker was struck in the head during the blast and a third worker suffered unspecified injuries described as minor.
The FDNY said that 60 firefighters from 12 units responded, but no evacuation was needed. There was a temporary loss of power in the building, and people in the lobby were given green glow sticks.
FDNY Deputy Chief Jim Hodges said some guests stayed in their rooms, but some who fled in elevators were briefly trapped as the power went from main to back-up. One hotel employee told 1010 WINS' Al Jones she was trapped in an elevator for two hours.
"We had to search 24 elevators. Communication was an issue so we called special units. It was a fully occupied hotel -- approximately 3,000 people in the hotel and we were able to rescue nine people from elevators," Hodges told reporters.
WCBS 880 reporter Peter Haskell said some witnesses described the lights going out and then, 15 seconds later, hearing what sounded like a series of gunshots. Shortly thereafter, they heard a public address announcement indicating there was a fire.
Kiley Dancy of Dover, Del., was at the hotel on business. At the time of the incident, she was eating lunch in a basement meeting room not far from the explosion in the power room.
"We heard an explosion and the lights went off. After a while, there was a couple more loud noises. Somebody thought it was gunfire, so someone yelled 'get under the table' and we got under the table for a little while and then somebody yelled 'everybody up'...and we walked upstairs and out here," Dancy told CBS 2's Dave Carlin.
As of Wednesday night, the hotel said that all guest floors and guest rooms have power, but the lobby currently has only temporary lighting. There is still no word on when there will be full power restoration.
