August 20, 2008 - Boy Dies After 10-Story Fall Down Elevator Shaft

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A 5-year-old boy plunged 10 stories to his death Tuesday when he attempted to escape from an elevator that had stopped moving.

Jacob Neumann and his 8-year-old brother, Israel, became stuck in the elevator at Taylor Wythe Homes in Brooklyn on their way to school. Jacob squeezed through the door and tried to jump to the 10th floor but slipped and fell down the shaft.

Israel was freed by building residents.

Tenants said the elevators have been a problem for some time.

"All these elevators are past their useful life," said Salomon Lieser, who heads the tenants association. "They were supposed to be overhauled a couple of years ago."

The elevators received an unsatisfactory rating in their last inspection in October.

Jacob was to be buried Tuesday afternoon according to Orthodox Jewish practice.

"He's a very sweet little boy," said Pessie Gelb, who lives on the same floor as his family. "We're really going to miss him."