On Wednesday afternoon, guests at the New York Hilton Hotel got an unexpected jolt as a transformer exploded in the electrical room. The explosion in the Midtown Manhattan hotel caused electricity to go out and injured two people.
Firefighters arrived at the scene around 1p.m. to find smoky conditions, injured workers, and people trapped in elevators. Several took to the basement to put out the basement electrical fire.
Two workers were injured as they got caught in the blast while tending to an electrical panel in the basement. One man suffered from a head injury and was treated at the scene. The other was taken to NY Presbyterian-Weill Cornell Medical Center and treated for minor burns on his hands, the New York Daily News reported.
The hotel elevators were searched after the power outage and nine people were found trapped in two elevator cars for 30 minutes. One woman panicked and had to be treated for hyperventilation after being released from the elevator.
All hotel guests were not required to evacuate, but the incident did cause a headache for some of the 3,000 guests staying there, especially due to the power outage. Some guests on upper floors chose to exit the building and had to walk down several flights of stairs.
The Daily News reported that one man who was staying in the hotel while his apartment was being renovated said he was going to another hotel as he dragged several suitcases down the hotel staircase.
That man isn't the only one to be relocated. Electric company Con Edison was also on the scene attempting to restore power to the hotel, but a hotel spokesman said guests of the 1,981 room hotel, would be relocated if power did not return right away. Throughout the evening, various parts of the hotel had power. By 10:30 pm, all power was restored to the hotel.
The Hilton New York, located in the heart of Manhattan, is the largest hotel in New York City and the 101st tallest hotel at 46 stories.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
