常時英心:言葉の森から 1.0

約10年間,はてなダイアリーで英語表現の落穂拾いを行ってきました。現在はAmeba Blogに2.0を開設し,継続中です。こちらはしばらくアーカイブとして維持します。

open-topped

全米一高いビルで窓ガラス清掃員が宙づりになってしまいました。
Window washers not left hanging in N.Y.

The Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Two window washers trapped on a dangling scaffold nearly 70 stories up the new 1 World Trade Center tower were rescued Wednesday by firefighters who sawed through a window to reach them.

The dramatic rescue, coming a little more than a week after the nation’s tallest building officially opened, was followed by throngs of New Yorkers on the ground and many more around the world watching on live TV.

The window washers, Juan Lizama and Juan Lopez, were working on the Manhattan building’s south side early in the afternoon when one of the platform’s four cables abruptly developed slack, Fire Commissioner Daniel Nigro said. The open-topped platform tilted sharply and swayed slightly in the wind between the 68th and 69th floors, he said.

About 100 firefighters rushed to the skyscraper, some of them lowering ropes from the roof so the workers could secure themselves and a two-way radio for them to communicate, Nigro said. The workers also were harnessed to the platform.

Firefighters first used diamond cutters to saw through part of a two-layered glass window on the 68th floor. They shattered the thick glass in place, then carefully pulled the broken pieces into the building.
Firefighters also began inching another scaffold down the building as a backup rescue plan, but they were able to bring the workers to safety through the window hole.

Mayor Bill de Blasio praised rescuers for “great coordination.”

今回気になった単語は“open-topped”です。調べてみると、「屋根のない」(『ジーニアス英和辞典第四版』大修館)という意味がありました。念のため“top”を調べてみると、「(自動車などの)屋根」(『ジーニアス英和辞典第四版』大修館)という意味があったので、そのままの意味の単語です。およそ70階のところで約2時間も宙づりになっているなんて想像もつきませんが、無事救助されたと聞き安心しました。(Green)

http://the-japan-news.com/news/article/0001716314