Firefighters battle to rescue stricken student, 22, who got wedged in 8-inch wide 'alleyway' between buildings



Courtney Malloy, 22, got stuck between buildings while trying to walk through narrow alleyway in Providence, Rhode Island



Found suspended two feet off the ground in a horizontal position



Rescuers removed fence from alley and tried to smash through wall of one of the buildings in bid to reach her

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Stuck: Student Courtney Malloy, 22, had to be rescued after getting stuck in a gap between two buildings in Rhode Ialand, Connecticut

A student had to be rescued by firefighters after getting wedged in an eight-inch gap between two buildings in Providence Rhode Island.

Courtney Malloy, 22, who reportedly attends the University of Rhode Island, got stuck two feet in the air in a horizontal position after apparently trying to take a shortcut.

Rescuers, who spent an hour trying to free her, initially thought she had fallen from the roof of one of the buildings.

Firefighters from Providence Fire Department arrived at the scene after passers-by heard her cries for help in the early hours of Friday morning.

It was first thought that the voice was coming from inside a large dumpster at the scene, but when this was removed she was spotted stuck between the Fed Ex building and a building next door.



Rescue workers used saws and other tools to free her.



Witness David Boutros, who owns a nearby bar, told WPRI's Eyewitness News that the young woman appeared to be panicking as she dangled in the confined space.



'She was completely shaking and panicking and out of shape,' he told the station, 'she didn't know what to do.'

Mr Boutros said Ms Malloy was breathing heavily while wedged between the buildings.

Acting Battalion fire Chief Jeffrey Varone WJAR NBC 10 that the woman had been trying to get through the alley before getting stuck.

Tight squeeze: Ms Malloy, who is reported to be a student at the University of Rhode Island, was found suspended two feet off the ground between the walls of the two buildings

Danger: Rescue workers initially thought the student had fallen into the gap from the roof of one of the buildings - but she told them she had been trying to take a shortcut

Rescue: Firefighters had to remove a fence from the alleyway and tried to knock through a wall in order to reach Ms Malloy - who was eventually rescued unharmed

'It appears she was trying to make her way through the alley and it got too tight for her and she wedged herself in about 24 inches off the ground in a horizontal position,' he said.



Rescue workers removed a fence that blocked the alleyway and hammered at the wall of one of the buildings in a bid to reach the stricken student.

Ms Malloy is reported to have been unharmed following her rescue, but was taken to hospital as a precaution.

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