Boston transit worker rescued after 30-foot fall

BOSTON (AP) — A veteran electrician with Boston’s transit system who was trying to make work conditions safer for others fell into a 30-foot deep shaft between the tracks today and was trapped for more than 2 1/2 hours with severe leg injuries.

Ed Rowe, 46, plunged through a thin piece of plywood covering a 2-foot-by-2-foot hole between the tracks at the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority’s elevated Charles/Massachusetts General Hospital trolley station at about 4:30 a.m.

He was pulled from the hollow concrete support column by firefighters at about 7 a.m. and taken to the hospital right across the street with what were described as severe leg injuries.

Rowe was conscious but in “tremendous pain” when he was pulled free, Boston Fire Department spokesman Steve MacDonald said.