24 people rescued from stuck elevator at South Station

BOSTON, Mass. (WHDH) – Twenty-four people were rescued after they became stuck in an elevator at South Station Wednesday.

Authorities say there were 8 adults and 16 children inside the Red Line elevator at South Station for about 45 minutes. The children were said to be four to six years old.

The fire department was able to pry open the elevator doors and get everyone out safely.

“There was a few young kids, maybe four, five years old that were just terrified. They were horrified,” said Matt Smalley.

“When they all went in there I said to myself, ‘this elevator hopefully does not croak,’ and it stalled out,” said Jonathan McCarthy.

The group was stuck in the elevator for about 45 minutes as emergency crews tried to get the elevator up or down.

“The worry is that time. They were in there for a long period of time. And we had to shut off the power and we had the elevator people down there to see if they could fix the problem. And we were just going through the process trying to get it fixed,” said Dep. Chief Kenneth Green, Transit Police.

Firefighters pried the doors open and reached down four feet to lift the people up one by one.

“They just kept coming out, and out, and out. I’m saying to myself, ‘when are they going to stop?’ and I swear to God they just kept coming, and coming, and coming,” Smalley said.

“And there was a little tiny baby about 7 months old,” said Joanne Gavelis said. “I was worried about her cause…she was so tiny and thirsty. Everybody had water.”

Paramedics provided the water and checked everyone out.  

No one was hurt.