A devastating scene unfolded late Monday night in Manhattan after an uncovered manhole claimed the life of an unsuspecting woman just steps from some of the city’s busiest luxury storefronts.
A 56-year-old woman identified as Donike Gocaj from Westchester County died after falling into the open hole outside the Cartier store near East 52nd Street and Fifth Avenue, according to the New York Post. The incident happened around 11:20 p.m. in the heart of Midtown.
Officials told the outlet the woman had just stepped out of her parked Mercedes-Benz SUV when she suddenly plunged roughly 10 feet into a Con Edison utility hole.
First responders reportedly arrived to find the woman unconscious and unresponsive inside the opening. She was pulled from the hole and rushed to New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center, where she later died from her injuries.
Carlton Wood, of New Jersey, told the New York Post that she saw Gocaj fall down the manhole.
“The minute she stepped out of that SUV, she closed the door behind her and only took a couple steps forward and just dropped into the hole,” Wood said, noting Gocaj did not appear to be “distracted” or on her phone. “You know, it was like in those cartoons. She just disappeared into the hole.”
“She was just in the hole, screaming that she was dying. Over and over she was like, ‘I’m dying, I’m dying,’” Wood said.
According to ABC News, authorities said steam was coming from the hole at the time of the incident.
“We are deeply saddened to confirm that a member of the public has died after falling into an open manhole,” a spokesperson for Con Edison told the Post.
The company added that it is “actively investigating how this occurred,” while police said the city medical examiner will officially determine the woman’s cause of death.
Con Edison did not immediately respond to the Daily Beast’s request for comment.
The victim’s identity was initially withheld as authorities worked to notify next of kin. Family members who spoke to CBS News appeared visibly shaken while describing their grief and confusion over how such a deadly hazard could have been left exposed in one of Manhattan’s busiest corridors.
Gocaj’s social media accounts show that she had at least two adult children and also at least two grandchildren.
There was reportedly no active construction in the area at the time of the incident, and the missing manhole cover was later found roughly 15 feet away from the opening.
Relatives told the outlet they were searching for answers and claimed there were no cones, warning signs, or barriers surrounding the open utility hole before the woman fell inside.
Following the incident, the woman’s vehicle was taped off as investigators combed through the scene. The uncovered hole was later resealed, and the surrounding street reopened early Tuesday morning, according to ABC.
Con Edison has faced repeated issues with the city’s underground manhole system in recent years, including a series of fires.
Earlier this year, a Brooklyn manhole fire forced the evacuation of nearly 200 residents after smoke and carbon monoxide spread through a Williamsburg apartment building.
In 2024, another Brooklyn manhole fire engulfed an SUV and spread flames into a nearby apartment building on Thanksgiving Day, prompting evacuations and a major emergency response.
