Patient trapped in elevator later dies

Despite extraordinary efforts by firefighters, a large patient who was rescued from a stalled hospital elevator on March 8 later died.

The patient, who weighed more than 300 pounds, suffered a heart attack and was being taken from the ER to the ICU at St. Mary's Hospital in Passaic, NJ, according to the Herald News of Passaic County.

A physician and two nurses accompanied the patient into an elevator, which got stuck between floors due to a mechanical problem, fire officials told the Herald News.

The patient was too large to be pulled through the elevator's ceiling escape hatch, so firefighters used saws and torches to rip through a bathroom and surgical room walls to extricate the patient. The patient was still conscious when rescued, but she died the next day, a hospital spokesperson told the Herald News.

The elevator in question passed its last inspection, according to the newspaper.