by Tara Lynn Wagner
A Consolidated Edison worker was killed and a co-worker was injured when a manhole exploded Thursday afternoon in Brooklyn.
Con Ed says George Dillman and Craig Penney were splicing cables in a manhole at the corner of Euclid and Sutter Avenues in East New York when the incident occurred just after 12:30 p.m.
Penney was able to escape, but Dillman was trapped inside and died.
Penney, a Queens resident, was rushed to Brookdale Hospital, where sources say he is in critical condition with burns to his body.
Residents as far away as 10 blocks said they heard and felt the explosion.
"It was real loud, like a bomb – a loud blam," said one resident. "It was a big explosion."
A source with the fire department says the workers realized there was a problem and quickly tried to get above ground.
"He was saying, 'Help me help me get me out' but there were flames coming out of the hole," one witness said. "They couldn't get down there with the flames."
Dillman, who friends say celebrated his 26th birthday earlier this week, had been working for Con Ed since 2005. Fire officials said it took roughly two hours for first responders to recover his body because there were more than a dozen live wires carrying thousands of volts of electricity through the vault below.
They said that even though they could not be sure Dillman had died, it would have been too great a risk to send a crew in before the power could be shut down and the area secured.
Penny, meanwhile, sustained minor injuries and was transported to Brookdale Hospital to be treated for trauma.
Con Edison officials issued a statement offering their prayers to the families of both workers. The statement added that "Our crews work in potentially dangerous conditions and perform their jobs with extreme dedication and attention to safety. We will thoroughly investigate the cause of this incident."
Fire officials said their investigation is also ongoing.
 |
