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| Regional Elite Rescue Team Saves Woman in Milan Skyscraper April 19, 2002 By DANIEL J. WAKIN MILAN, April 19 - An investigation was continuing here today to try to explain why a small plane sliced into a skyscraper in the heart of Milan, killing at least three people, injuring about 60 and frightening Italians with its reminder of Sept. 11. There were heroic stories. One of them involved a 10-member squad from the region's elite rescue unit, which specializes in cave, river, mountain and high-rise rescues. They learned of a woman trapped in the elevator on the 15th floor and rushed into the building. The force of the impact had dislodged the elevator doors, preventing the elevator from moving, and the doors could not be opened. The nearest door with access to the elevator, an express, was on the 24th floor, luckily one flight below where the plane hit. The men of the unit ran up the stairs. They lowered three ropes, one a safety line, another for the person in the elevator and a third for Firefighter Mauro Bonfanti, who rappelled his way down nine floors to the roof of the elevator. He had to clear away debris from the top to get at the emergency door, and then dropped into the cabin. There, he put a harness on the woman, who was said to be in her mid-20's. At the top, Firefighter Riccardo Munaretti helped raise her up. "We took her in our arms and pulled her out," he said. "She was a little pale, but smiled and said she was happy." But all during the exhausting haul up the 24 flights, Mr. Munaretti said, another disaster was on his mind. "When we were running up the stairs, we were thinking about what happened on Sept. 11," he said. http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/19/international/19CND-ITAL.html?ex=1020269499&ei=1&en=6fc83603c76a83a1 Copyright 2002 The New York Times Company |
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