Ga. firefighters rescue boy from elevator shaft

The 5-year-old boy fell 12 to 15 feet down an elevator shaft

By Larry Hartstein
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

ATLANTA — A 5-year-old boy fell 12 to 15 feet down an elevator shaft at the Kensington MARTA station Monday but apparently escaped serious injury, DeKalb County fire Capt. Eric Jackson said.

The boy was conscious and alert when firefighters pulled him up using a rescue basket, Jackson said.

The child was taken to Children's Healthcare of Atlanta for evaluation and was released, but WSB-TV reported Monday that the boy's parents brought him back to the hospital after he complained of headaches.

Jackson said the boy was on the second floor of the station, leaning against the elevator door, "when the door somehow became disengaged or opened and that's when the child fell. He fell onto the top of the elevator car."

The rescue operation "was a little challenging," Jackson said, "but we were basically able to use some ladders to get the firefighters down there."

A MARTA spokeswoman Cara Hodgson said the agency is investigating the accident, which happened about 9 a.m.