2 Survive Elevator’s 40-Story Plunge

An elevator in New York City’s Empire State Building plunged 40 stories when a cable snapped, but two people inside were saved by an emergency braking system. “I was scared, terrified,” Shamika Peterson, 20, said. “I thought I was going to die.” The elevator dropped about 400 feet before a safety system stopped it at the fourth floor. Maintenance workers used an adjacent elevator to guide the occupants to safety. Peterson was treated at a hospital for neck and shoulder pain and released. The other occupant, Joe Masoraca, refused medical treatment.