New Jersey woman plunges to her death after her twin’s hat fell from WTC escalator

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A New Jersey woman died after she fell off an escalator inside the multibillion-dollar World Trade Center transportation hub.

Jenny Santos, 29, was trying to get her twin sister’s hat when she reached too far over the railing, the Associated Press reported. She plunged 30 feet down to the concourse floor.

The accident occurred about 5:30 a.m. Saturday. The AP cited a law enforcement official who wasn’t authorized to speak publicly about the incident and spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Joseph Pentangelo, a spokesman for the Port Authority Police Department, told the AP that Santos was pronounced dead at a New York hospital. The police department did not respond to an inquiry from The Washington Post on Sunday.

Police are investigating.

Santos, of Kearny, New Jersey, was a coach for the Bergen County Rowing Academy.

“She will be greatly missed by our rowers, and everyone who knew her,” according to a new post on the rowing academy’s Facebook page.

Santos started rowing when she was a student at Kearny High School and continued the sport in college, according to a brief biography on the academy’s website. She began working as a coach in the spring of last year.

Clemens Reinke, the academy’s head coach, told ABC affiliate WABC-TV that Santos will be “dearly missed.”

Reinke said he last saw Santos the previous day, when she trained the academy’s winter team. “You say goodbye like you normally do, expecting to see her again,” Reinke told WABC-TV.

He said Santos was someone who always had a smile on her face and was constantly willing to help.

“I understand that somehow the hat flew away, that she would jump after that, that is kind of her fun-loving way of wanting to be helpful,” Reinke told WABC-TV. “I can’t believe this went so wrong.”

Reinke said the academy plans to name a boat after Santos.

The $3.9 billion transportation hub, known as the Oculus, opened in 2016. Its concourse connects New York City’s subway and New Jersey’s PATH trains. The 800,000-square-foot-hub, designed by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava, is the third-largest transportation center in New York City, according to its website. Along the concourse are retail and dining spaces.

(The Washington Post)