A Brazilian woman has been injured after she fell through a manhole on her way to work.
CCTV footage shows 31-year-old cook Fabiana Rosa walking down the street when she suddenly plunged down the sewer after its cover gave way when she stepped onto it.
As she falls into the crevice, the loose cover flips over and closes the hole shut, leaving Fabiana trapped inside.
A motorcyclist who witnessed the incident rushed to help her, while other bystanders joined in on the efforts to lift the cover and free the woman.
She was rushed to Andarai Federal Hospital in Maracanã, Rio de Janeiro, where she was treated for injuries on her forehead, arms, legs, chest and back.
Speaking to Brazilian news outlet RJ1, Fabiana described the despair she felt being submerged in deep water.
‘I thought I was going to die because the water was up to my chest, and the hole was very deep.
‘I stepped on the edge of the hole, the iron part, and went right in. The lid flipped over, hit my forehead, and I fell inside,’ she recalled.
Fabiana Rosa, from Brail, was injured after she fell into a manhole. Screen grab from CCTV footage shows her walking down the street just moments before her fall
CCTV media footage shows 31-year-old cook plunging down the sewer after its cover gave way when she stepped onto it
The woman sustained moderate images around her body
A motorcylist witnessed the incident rushed to help her, while other bystanders joined in on the efforts to lift the cover and free the woman
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Local authorities believe the manhole cover came loose after two men were captured on CCTV tampering with it. Police said they believe the pair may have been trying to steal the metal lid.
They added that the cover has already been replaced, while the maintenance management has been contacted to ensure they have been properly secured.
The incident comes just weeks after a woman died after falling down a New York City manhole.
Donike Gocaj was killed on May 18 after parking her car outside Cartier’s flagship store on Fifth Avenue and plunging into the open hole.
Gocaj was found unconscious and unresponsive at the bottom of the manhole.
She was extracted by an EMS team and rushed to New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead.
Photos from the scene show the Mercedes car still parked, with the manhole sitting just to the left of the driver’s door.
The 56-year-old was described as ‘a loving mother to a son and daughter and a loving grandmother to two grandchildren,’ according to a loved one who spoke to ABC7.
Con Edison, which is responsible for the manhole and several others in the city, said no construction work was ongoing and it was investigating what happened.
A spokesman for the power company said the cover was found around 15 feet away.
