Man Taking Photos On Roof Of Mag Mile Hotel Falls Into Smokestack, Dies

By Chuck Sudo in News on Dec 13, 2012 3:00PM

A 23-year-old Minnesota man died early this morning when he fell into a smokestack at the Intercontinental Hotel Chicago.

According to the Tribune, the man was in an area above a 42nd-floor balcony that is closed to the public and was climbing the hotel's dome to take photos when he fell 22 feet into the smokestack. Police and fire crews responded to a call of a man jumping off the roof at 1:09 a.m. and discovered the man was wedged in a part of the smokestack that was angled. DNAInfo Chicago reported firefighters rappelled down the chimney in an attempt to retrieve the man before they cut into the chimney and used boards to keep him from falling any further.

Fire Department Special Operations Chief Michael Fox called the rescue a "confined space rescue" where they were constantly monitoring the smokestack for toxic gases. Fire Department spokeswoman Meg Ahlheim said the man was able to communicate with his girlfriend with phone calls and text messages, but firefighters lost contact with him around 3:15 a.m. He was unconscious when he was pulled from the smokestack before being declared dead at Northwestern Memorial Hospital at 5:15 a.m.