Man crushed to death by lift after being dragged into elevator shaft
A man has been crushed to death after an elevator he was riding malfunctioned and trapped him between a wall and the lift itself.
Sam Waisbren, 30, stepped out of the elevator inside a 23-storey building in New York on Thursday (local time) when it dropped from the first level towards the basement.
The incident, at the Manhattan Promenade apartment complex, unfolded about 8.15am and was captured in security vision obtained by the New York Post.
A building employee said he watched as the man climbed “out onto the floor while the elevator was still [moving down]”.
Video of the event showed Mr Waisbren extending his arm out and trying to plant his leg on the lobby floor as the elevator moved downwards.
He was immediately overpowered by the movement of the lift, which continued rocketing towards the basement.
Mr Waisbren was pronounced dead at the scene.
#FDNY members are operating on scene at 3rd Avenue and East 25 Street in Manhattan for a confined space incident. pic.twitter.com/YcgdYKEcrm
— FDNY (@FDNY) August 22, 2019
Officers from the New York City Fire Department (FDNY) attended the scene and rescued five surviving people from inside the metal cage.
The dead man’s father said he had moved from the family home near Milwaukee to live in New York, where he worked in software sales.
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