I-Team: Fenway Elevator Doors Forced Off Their Hinges Before Fall
BOSTON (CBS) - The state's commissioner of Public Safety, whose office oversees state elevator inspections, says there was nothing wrong with the elevator doors at Fenway Park Friday night.
Thomas Gatzunis says, "No it was not an issue with the doors, the doors were functioning properly."
Friday night, a 22-year-old woman fell two stories from the fourth floor inside the elevator shaft, landing on top of an elevator on the second floor. State inspectors suggested today the elevator doors were somehow smashed open by a force greater than 225 pounds.
Gatzunis says, "The slides that hold that door in place and prevent it from swinging open like a pendulum were actually broken and bent backwards... and those are metal sections that hold it in place."
Lizzy Scotland of New Jersey, who had just graduated from Boston University, was with her father when she fell Friday night. The plunge knocked her unconscious; she was taken to the hospital. Her family and the hospital would not return calls today.
The police report reviewed by the I-Team refers to a disturbance. Police say they were "alerted by Fenway Park security personnel of a potential disturbance in the vicinity of the Gate B elevator."
On the way there, police were informed "an individual may have fallen in an elevator shaft at Fenway Park." It is unclear if the disturbance preceded the young woman's fall or was the result.
The I-Team obtained the state's inspection report for that elevator from February 7th. It was cited for non-compliance but not deemed a safety hazard.
Inspectors found emergency equipment including a phone, bell, and light all out of order. They scheduled a follow up for late June.
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