Dangling window-washers rescued from World Trade Center

NEW YORK - Two window washers were trapped on a dangling scaffold nearly 70 stories up the new 1 World Trade Center tower for nearly two hours on Wednesday before firefighters sawed through a thick, double-paned 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.

It was unclear whether the scaffold had been used on the 1,776-foot, 104-story skyscraper before or whether anything about the building's design complicates working a scaffold there. Officials stressed that firefighters had trained for various emergencies at the tower, the centerpiece of the rebuilt World Trade Center.

The workers, Juan Lizama and Juan Lopez, who were harnessed to the platform, were on the Manhattan building's south side at around 12:40 p.m. when one of the platform's four cables abruptly became slack, fire commissioner Daniel Nigro said. The open-topped platform tilted sharply, going nearly vertical and swayed slightly in the wind between the 68th and 69th floors, he said.

Officials haven't determined what caused the cable problem. The cables are controlled from the scaffold vehicle, the fire commissioner said.

Lizama and Lopez were checked out at a hospital and were released.