New York - UPI
New York firefighters Sunday busted through a wall to free a 19-year-old college student wedged between two buildings in Lower Manhattan. WNBC-TV, New York, reported a fire department official said Asher Vongtau was stuck in a 1 1/2- to 2-foot-wide space between a New York University dormitory and a neighboring parking garage. It took firefighters 1 1/2 hours to extricate him. New York cable news channel NY1 reported a fire official at the scene said the student had been stuck for "a minimum of a day." It wasn't clear how far the student had fallen or had gotten trapped, though WNBC-TV, New York, reported it was possible he fell from a window or the roof. NY1 said the youth was hospitalized in serious condition, and WNBC-TV later said he was in stable condition. "He was conscious, he was moving, he was definitely tired," WNBC- TV quoted Fire Chief Joseph Schiralli as saying. Friends of the victim told NY1 the student was visiting a residence hall and was last seen walking up the stairs. Vongtau was found after other students alerted security guards that they were concerned he hadn't been seen. The guards heard him scream for help while they were going to the dorm's roof. A school representative said the victim is an undergraduate student at the university but did not live in the dorm.