N.Y. grate collapse nearly kills woman

NEW YORK, May 18 (UPI) -- A woman in New York was injured after a sidewalk grate she was walking on collapsed, dropping her next to a hazardous electrical unit.

The New York Post said that 26-year-old Jessica Hinksmon was injured Thursday after falling 15 feet into a muddy pit where there was a 13,000-volt electrical transformer box.

Hinksmon was rescued by firefighters but the incident left the grate's manufacturer with plenty to account for, the Post said.

A spokesman for the company, Con Edison, said the steel-mesh grates are quite prevalent in New York and typically are extremely safe.

"You can't lift one of these things with your bare hands. It's very heavy," spokesman Alfonso Quiroz told the newspaper. "They are very safe and there are thousands of them around the city."

A Con Edison site was the location for another fall nearly a month ago. The Post said a 64-year-old man died after falling into a pit where another transformer was being replaced.