A musician stuck in an elevator raised the alarm by posting a video of his ordeal online.
31-year-old singer Carl Chinegwu was trapped inside a gym house with a cleaner in Colchester, Essex, UK after the lift jolted to a halt shortly before.
The pair was said to have phoned the emergency number written inside the lift carriage but were unsure how long help would take.
What would they do?
They decided to take matters into their own hands by posting a clip to Chinegwu’s Facebook page.
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A friend of the singer saw the plea and raised the alarm.
Meanwhile the emergency lift operators called the gym manager and a fire crew, who arrived 20 minutes later.
Chinegwu said: ‘The lift took off for about ten seconds and there was a big shake. I didn’t know what was happening.
‘I was panicking and wondering how long we were going to be there. I started filming videos to tell people what was happening in case they were passing by.’
The gym is only operated by staff from 8a.m. to 8p.m. Monday to Friday.
The firefighters arrived minutes later but were unable to rescue the pair. An engineer was called and he had to travel from Norwich, about 60 miles away.
Carl and the cleaner were eventually pulled from the lift at 1:20a.m. – more than three hours after the lift stop.
Moral of the story: Always make sure to look for a faster means of contact to get yourself out of a difficult situation.
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