Woman drives car into open pit

A woman suffered minor injuries and a firefighter had two fingers severed after the woman’s car plunged into a 20-foot-deep pit at a Southwest construction site yesterday.

Yvonne Gilbert, 55, of 1100 Kennebec St., Oxon Hill, lost control of her blue 1993 Plymouth Sundance at Fourth and I streets and caused a three-car accident at about 1:30 p.m., said Metro police spokesman Sgt. Joe Gentile.

“The vehicle was heading east on I Street at a high rate of speed when it ran a red light and rear-ended a Toyota, which hit a Ford Ranger,” Sgt. Gentile said.

The car Miss Gilbert was driving then crashed through a fence surrounding a construction site on I Street, dropped into the pit and landed on a gas line about five feet from the bottom. Firefighters used ropes, pulleys and harnesses to rescue her from the pit, about 25 feet wide and 20 feet deep.

She was taken to a local hospital after complaining of chest pains, likely from the airbag’s deployment upon impact, D.C. fire department spokeswoman Kathryn Friedman said.

A 35-year-old firefighter suffered severe injury to his hand during the rescue, Miss Friedman said. He was injured while attempting to secure a pulley and ropes.

The firefighter, who was unidentified, was flown to Curtis National Hand Center at Union Memorial Hospital in Baltimore, where he was treated and released. The extent of his injury and whether he will regain full use of his hand will not be known for a few days, Miss Friedman said.

A construction worker who was in the pit also suffered minor injuries from falling debris, Miss Friedman said. The worker, Jesse Lee, said the car landed “right over me,” a few feet from his head.

Miss Friedman said Mr. Lee was “extremely lucky” that he was not seriously injured.

Washington Gas workers were on the scene to ensure that the gas line did not rupture.

Miss Gilbert told authorities she blacked out at the wheel, according to WRC-TV (Channel 4). She was issued a citation for running a red light, Sgt. Gentile said.

A crane from the Department of Public Works was used to lift the car from the pit, Miss Friedman said.

Had the vehicle fallen to the bottom, the woman likely would have been killed, fire department spokesman Alan Etter said.

• Ihis article is based in part on wire service reports.