A New Jersey teacher died Saturday after she fell from an escalator onto the main concourse of the World Trade Center Oculus transit hub in downtown Manhattan. She fell over the side of the escalator as she grabbed for a hat her twin sister had dropped, officials said.
Jennifer Santos, 29, was declared dead at Bellevue Hospital, ABC6-TV reported. Her twin, Jessica, was treated for trauma but was otherwise uninjured, officials said.
The accident occurred early Saturday morning as the sisters were traveling home to Kearny after a night on the town, according to the New York Post.
It was the first death in the soaring white-marble Oculus building. It’s the centerpiece of a $3.9 billion transportation hub in the World Trade Center complex, which opened last year to replace the New Jersey PATH terminal that was destroyed in the 9/11 terror attacks.
The hub, which includes a shopping mall with some 100 stores, stretches four blocks beneath three office towers and connects to several subway systems, as well as ferries. One person on the scene after the accident complained that the barriers along the escalator should be higher in the Oculus atrium.
Port Authority officials were continuing to investigate the accident. The escalator was shut down for several hours Saturday.
