Man's Night Trapped Inside Jewelry Vault
October 26, 23
(IDEX Online) - A man spent the night locked inside a jewelry vault at the World Diamond Tower, at 580 Fifth Avenue, New York.
An employee is understood to have closed the doors at around 8.45pm on Tuesday night (24 October), unaware the man was inside accessing his safety deposit box.
Firefighters spent 10 hours trying to penetrate the 30-inch steel-reinforced concrete walls, in the basement of the midtown Manhattan building, which is home to several jewelry businesses.
But they abandoned their attempt, fearing they could harm the trapped man.
He was freed, unharmed, from the 20ft by 40ft vault at 7am the following morning when a timed mechanism unlocked the doors. There was no manual override.
The rescue team were in communication with the man using a phone inside the vault and could see him on surveillance cameras.
The man declined to talk to reporters about his night inside the vault. DGA Systems, which manages the vault, declined to comment.
Screengrab courtesy CBS News