{"id":25,"date":"2026-05-20T21:40:08","date_gmt":"2026-05-20T21:40:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=25"},"modified":"2026-05-20T21:40:08","modified_gmt":"2026-05-20T21:40:08","slug":"gruesome-cause-of-death-revealed-for-donike-gocaj-grandma-who-plunged-to-death-down-nyc-manhole","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=25","title":{"rendered":"Gruesome cause of death revealed for Donike Gocaj, grandma who plunged to death down NYC manhole"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p>The Westchester grandmother who plunged into an open manhole in Midtown died of scald burns and an assortment of other horrendous injuries, the city\u2019s medical examiner found Wednesday.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=23\">School administrator admitted she didn\u2019t search 6-year-old who shot teacher Abby Zwerner after hearing he may have a gun<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The shocking death of Donike Gocaj, 56, was ruled an accident by the examiner, officials revealed.<\/p>\n<p>Gocaj fell into an uncovered manhole after parking her SUV along East 52nd Street near Fifth Avenue at around 11:20 p.m. on Monday.<\/p>\n<p>She suffered burns that included inhalational thermal injuries from breathing in hot air or steam, the examiner found.<\/p>\n<p>She also died from blunt force trauma to her torso, according to the ME\u2019s office.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=21\">Graham Platner cruelly mocked a US soldier who nearly died protecting squad: \u2018Stupid motherf\u2014er didn\u2019t deserve to live\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n<p>A witness said Gocaj \u2013 a devoted mom and grandmother who lived in Briarcliff Manor \u2013 hauntingly screamed \u201cI\u2019m dying\u201d as bystanders frantically tried to help her before first responded arrived.<\/p>\n<p>The Con Edison utility hole she had \u201cdropped\u201d into appeared filled with boiling water and steam, the witness said.<\/p>\n<p>The medical examiner\u2019s ruling confirmed that Gocaj indeed died of horrific heat-related injuries.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=19\">Amazon\u2019s Jeff Bezos calls for zero income taxes on bottom half of earners \u2014 while also taking jab at tax-the-rich pols<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Westchester grandmother Donike Gocaj who plunged into an open manhole in Midtown on Monday died of scald burns and an assortment of other horrendous injuries.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":24,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-metro"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - 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