Most people go through the streets of a busy city without giving much consideration to what is underneath their feet. However, in the case of a man from New York, a late-night argument ended with him falling into an open manhole which contained dangerously hot water, leaving the rescuers unable to reach him.
Kyle McGarity was 25 and worked as a bartender in New York City. One night he went out drinking with his neighbour Keith Masters and Masters’ girlfriend, but the evening took a violent turn when Masters became firm in his belief that Kyle was flirting with her.
The argument eventually moved onto the street during the early morning time near the corner of Pearl and Fulton Streets, and witnesses said that the two men were fighting, one of them describing Kyle as having been severely beaten in the course of the encounter.
A couple nearby likewise heard shouting coming from outside, and among the words they said to have heard was “Don’t break my legs!” It was thought that those were some of the last words Kyle ever spoke.
It is not completely clear what happened next, but the investigators thought that Masters pushed Kyle towards an open manhole. The plastic vent stack which usually covered the opening had apparently been knocked out of position and had left a dangerous hole in the pavement.
Kyle dropped roughly 15 feet into the space beneath the street. However, this was not a normal underground chamber since a faulty water main had filled the area with very hot water, thus forming a pool that could cause fatal burns almost immediately.
Emergency services arrived quickly having been given accounts of the accident. They were able to see Kyle down below the street, but there was a big issue. The temperature in the manhole was so high that the rescuers could not enter safely.
It was even more terrifying that Kyle was said to still be alive and extending his arms in an attempt to get help. Although the rescuers could see him, there was nothing they could safely do to pull him out since the underground chamber was still full of boiling water and steam.
The crews took several hours to reduce the heat and the steam before they were finally able to enter the manhole, nevertheless, Kyle had already died by the time the conditions had become safe enough for them to go down.
The autopsy showed just how severe the conditions had been. When Dr. Judy Melinek, the medical examiner, looked at Kyle’s body she noted a temperature of about 125 degrees Fahrenheit, or 52 degrees Celsius, although she thought his real temperature could have been even higher.
The injuries indicated that his body had suffered exposure to an enormous amount of heat, Melinek later stated that the condition of the body was similar to that of a person who had been exposed to strong steam over a long period.
Masters claimed that the two men had merely been playing roughly and that Kyle’s fall had been accidental. Nevertheless, the evidence given by the witnesses resulted in him being charged with second degree murder.
The situation changed again later on when the charges were withdrawn for reasons that were not made public. Kyle’s death stayed as a terrifying illustration of how swiftly an ordinary night in a city can become a disaster threatening one’s life.
It might seem obvious that open manholes are a danger, but this instance shows just how deadly the hazards under city streets can be. A missing cover, a broken pipe, and a single violent moment were all that was needed to create a situation from which there was no escape.
