Texting Teen Falls Down Open Manhole on Staten Island

One second a Staten Island teenager was walking down the street, the next second she was gone.

Alexa Longueira was walking down Victory Boulevard and getting ready to text-message when she fell into an open sewer manhole. Now the city is trying to figure out why the manhole was left open and unblocked.

Alexa suffered some cuts and scrapes but is otherwise OK.

He mother says workers told her they left the manhole open and unattended for just seconds while they went to fetch some cones from their truck.

The Department of Environmental Protection says it is investigating.

"DEP is conducting a full investigation of what happened during a manhole incident on Victory Boulevard where workers were flushing a high-pressure sewer on Wednesday evening," said Mercedes Padilla, of the DEP. "We regret that this happened and wish the young woman a speedy recovery."

Alexa's mom says it doesn't matter that her daughter was text-messaging, the manhole should not have been left open. The family plans to file as lawsuit.