Officials successfully lower car hanging by wheel nine stories over Austin street

Emergency crews used ropes and pulleys to lower a car that was dangling from an elevated garage in downtown Austin Friday

Austin firefighters lowered the car about 6 inches at a time, Buck said.

“It couldn’t have gone any better,” he said.

Karl Schmidt, a bicycle messenger, was biking down the alley as the car crashed through.

“Glass and metal was falling from the sky, so I hit the brakes,” Schmidt said. “Then I heard him give this blood-curdling scream. I said, ‘Oh my gosh, there’s somebody in there.’ I looked, and I could see his arms were flailing.”

The garage’s safety wires were wrapped around the vehicle’s wheel and kept it from falling to the ground, fire officials said.

The driver was able to exit the vehicle safely with the help of bystanders and was not injured, officials said.

“The fact that the gentleman lived after driving off the ninth floor is a miracle,” said Austin Fire Division Chief Palmer Buck.

Police: Car dangling off parking garage ledge at Congress, 6th St

WATCH LIVE: A car is dangling off a ledge of an elevated parking garage over an alley at Congress Avenue and Sixth Street, Austin police said. More: http://crime.blog.statesman.com/2016/09/09/police-car-dangling-off-parking-garage-ledge-at-congress-6th-street/

Posted by Austin American-Statesman on Friday, September 9, 2016

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