The New York mother who died after she fell into an uncovered manhole “dropped” suddenly after getting out of her car outside the Midtown Cartier store — and desperately screamed that she was “dying” as she waited for help to arrive, an eyewitness told The Post.
Carlton Wood, of New Jersey, was walking to work around 11:20 p.m. Monday when he saw Donike Gocaj, 56, plummet about 10-15 feet down the hole near 52nd Street and Fifth Avenue after she got out of her Mercedes-Benz.
“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 told the Post Tuesday, 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,” he added.
Wood said he sprinted over and called 911 as Gocaj screamed for help from the bottom.
“She was just in the hole screaming that she was dying. Over and over she was like, ‘I’m dying, I’m dying,’” Wood recalled.
Other passersby alerted by the commotion ran over to help, he said. One man tried to let himself down so she could grab his legs, while another brought over a ladder that proved to be too short to reach her.
EMS and FDNY arrived within minutes, Wood said, but by then he said they “didn’t even hear her screaming anymore.”
First responders finally managed to get her to the street after about 20 minutes, he said.
She was rushed to New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center, where she died from her injuries, police said. The medical examiner will determine her cause of death.
The gaping utility hole, which belonged to Con Edison, was not marked and there did not appear to be any work going on at the time, Wood said.
The cover was right next to the open utility hole like “somebody had taken it off and put it there,” he said.
“There was no cones, there was no barricades, there was nothing,” he said.
While the fall wasn’t that far, Wood said it seemed like it was incredibly hot in the hole and that Gocaj seemed to be “in a puddle of water.”
“Like maybe steaming hot water. So I’m not sure, but I’m assuming maybe she was burning up down there. Bad air down there,” Wood said, recalling firefighters wearing masks and swearing as they pulled her out.
Con Ed said it was investigating why the manhole was not covered.
“We are deeply saddened to confirm that a member of the public has died after falling into an open manhole,” a spokesperson for the utility company told The Post.
“We are actively investigating how this occurred. Our thoughts are with the individual’s family, and safety remains our top priority.”
