New York — A woman fell from the porch of her 16^th floor apartment on the East Side of Manhattan, NY. The fall victim was reported to have been leaning on the railing when it broke away and caused her to plummet off the balcony. Reports show that after falling, she landed on the scaffolding of a construction site below, causing fatal injuries. Ambulance and rescue crews responded to the scene and tried reviving the woman from her accident injuries. Unfortunately, their efforts were unsuccessful in resuscitating the injury victim from a traumatic cardiac arrest. Trauma specialists believe the woman died of internal bleeding from the fall. They note that this type of fall may have caused a head injury with skull fracture but further testing will be necessary to determine if that was the case here. Investigators subsequently arrived on the scene to determine why the railing collapsed. According to building inspectors, the railings and balconies of New York City’s high-rise buildings are required to undergo safety inspections on a regular basis. Records show that this specific apartment building did file a safety inspection report for their porches and terraces. Accident investigators will now need to determine if the inspector missed a hazardous condition that led to the railing breaking under the woman’s weight. In the meantime, building department officials have warned residents to stay off of the balconies of their apartments until they are properly inspected according to current safety standards. Certified inspectors should personally investigate the safety of all aspects of the balcony and rails. Landlords are responsible to repair or replace any broken hardware or masonry in a timely fashion. A top accident lawyer in New York explains that the owner and management company may be held responsible for injury or death in a case of negligent maintenance. Read more about this deadly fall accident here.

Photo by Werner Vermaak (originally posted to Flickr as Immobilized Patient) [CC-BY-2.0], via Wikimedia Commons