Authorities in the United States are investigating how a man was crushed to death by a lift in his luxury New York City high-rise apartment building.
Horrific CCTV footage, obtained by the New York Post, captured the moment 30-year-old Sam Waisbren was killed while exiting the elevator in the 23-storey Manhattan Promenade tower.
The video shows the elevator doors opening, and a man wearing a backpack steps out into the building's lobby.
As Mr Waisbren moves forwards to follow him, the elevator gives way and plunges into the darkness of the shaft below.
Mr Waisbren is seen trying to grasp the frame of the elevator door, but was unable to escape in time.
He was pronounced dead at the scene after being crushed between the elevator car and the shaft wall, authorities confirmed, according to the New York Post.
"His initial reaction was to put his arm out … so he could get off," a building worker, who asked to remain anonymous, told the news outlet.
"At that point, the elevator took him down. Jumping out [of] the car while it's still moving, you just don't want to do it."
Firefighters rescued five other residents who were trapped inside the elevator as it plunged towards the basement.
The New York City Department of Buildings said the elevator had not been the subject of any formal complaints, but another lift in the building was shut down over safety concerns months earlier, the New York Post reported.
Mr Waisbren's father, Charles Waisbren, said his family was "absolutely devastated".
"He had millions of friends out in New York. He was loved by everybody," he said.
"The elevator was always in disarray, and they're paying a gazillion dollars in rent every month.
"[The] least the building could do is provide safety."
The New York City Department of Investigation is now probing the incident.
