HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – A 79-year-old woman suffered only bruises after a drawbridge opened beneath her as she walked across it, leaving her dangling from the structure.
Helen Koton (search) said she did not hear any warning signals before the bridge began to open with her nearly halfway across. She said she was able to grab the railing.
"I was holding onto the railing, and I went up in the air," Koton later told Miami television station WSVN.
As the bridge rose to its full height, motorists got out of their cars and told the bridge attendant, who lowered the span after several minutes.
"Finally, I came down. When I came down, I fell on my face, so I bruised my forehead and my nose," she told the station.
Koton, a winter resident of the area, also lives in Brookline, Mass.
Brian Scott, the bridgetender's supervisor, said the incident is under investigation. He declined to comment further.
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