A 56-year-old woman from Westchester died after stepping out of her Mercedes on Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue and falling into an uncovered manhole.

The victim, who has not been identified pending notification of her next of kin, parked her SUV outside the Cartier flagship store on East 52nd Street around 11:19pm on Monday night.

The woman, who is from Westchester County, just north of Manhattan, fell 10 feet down the manhole moments after getting out of her car.

Investigators said the woman was found unconscious and unresponsive at the bottom of the manhole. 

She was extracted by an EMS team and rushed to to New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead.  

The New York City Office of Chief Medical Examiner will determine her cause of death. 

A 56-year-old woman died in New York City’s Fifth Avenue on Monday night after parking her car beside an open manhole and falling into it moments after stepping out of the vehicle

The woman, who has not yet been named, fell 10 feet into this manhole, which was uncovered. She was extracted from it and taken to hospital but doctors were unable to save her life

Disturbing photos from the scene show the victim’s car still parked, with the manhole sitting just to the left of the driver’s door.

The manhole appeared to have been given a temporary plastic covering in the wake of the tragedy.

It is unclear why it had been left uncovered at the time of the Mercedes driver’s death.

Police have made no arrests in connection to this incident, but they have opened an investigation.

It is unclear if the manhole was part of a live construction site at the time of the accident.

Photos taken after the woman’s death show it surrounded by temporary safety rails but it is unclear if these were in place when she fell. 

Safety workers are seen beside the manhole which the woman fell into. It is unclear if the yellow safety fencing was erected before or after the woman’s death

EMS workers are seen at the scene of Monday night’s tragedy. Con Edison has said it will open an investigation

The woman died after parking her car outside the flagship Cartier store (pictured) on East 52nd Street  

City regulations mandate that any uncovered openings on the street need to be barricaded and clearly marked with flags, lights or signs.   

Temporary fencing was seen around the manhole in the wake of the tragedy but it is unclear if this had only been erected after the woman’s death.

 It’s also unclear if work was going on at the time the woman fell.

New York City laws order contractors to ensure any manholes being worked on are temporarily covered outside of working hours for pedestrian and driver safety. 

Con Edison, which maintains the tens of thousands of manholes in the city, said it is investigating why the manhole the woman fell into was open.

‘We are deeply saddened to confirm that a member of the public has died after falling into an open manhole. We are actively investigating how this occurred,’ a Con Edison spokesperson said.

‘Our thoughts are with the individual’s family, and safety remains our top priority.’

The Daily Mail has contacted the New York Police Department and Con Edison for further comment.