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Cleaners saved from 69th storey of One World Trade Center

Window cleaners left dangling on side of New York building after cradle cable broke

One of two window-cleaners is pulled to safety by New York Fire Department rescuers 69 storeys above ground on the new One World Trade Center building. Photograph: Fred R Conrad/New York Times
One of two window-cleaners is pulled to safety by New York Fire Department rescuers 69 storeys above ground on the new One World Trade Center building. Photograph: Fred R Conrad/New York Times
Wed Nov 12 2014 - 21:28

Two window cleaners who were stranded 69 storeys above street level when their cradle partially collapsed have been rescued.

The fire brigade cut panes of glass to rescue the pair from the south side of the newly opened One World Trade Center in New York.

The city’s fire department said the men were tethered and communicating with rescuers during their ordeal.

Joe Pentangelo, spokesman for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which owns the building, said it appeared that a cable on the cradle had broken.

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Police official John Miller said the cradle was hanging at “a 75-degree angle”.

The cable apparently snapped at around 1pm local time and the workmen were pulled inside the building at around 2.15pm.