Elevator traps visitors

The elevator at Apple's new Fifth Avenue Store in New York last week malfunctioned, trapping five passengers inside beneath the large glass cube. Visitors on a school trip boarded the elevator to ascend to street level after visiting the store, only to find themselves stranded after one passenger exited the lift. "When we got to the street level I got out of the elevator, and the door closed behind me," wrote the passenger who managed to exit the elevator. "The exterior [door] wouldn't open but the inner door kept on opening and closing." Some of the passengers were reportedly dancing as Apple employees searched for a means to free them. Water bottles were handed down from the roof of the tube through the malfunctioning doors to the occupants, and after a brief period the New York Police Department showed up to help free the visitors.

Freeing the occupants

When police arrived the hydraulic lines were being bled, and as the elevator began to descend officers rushed down the stairs with equipment to pry the doors open, according to the blogger. Once the elevator became level with the lower floor the police opened and held the doors, allowing passengers to escape as the car continued to drop toward the basement. The last passenger exited with a two-foot step up to the lower floor, and two people reportedly burned their hands on the hot lights in the shaft.

Despite the fact that the occupants were stuck in the elevator for 45 minutes, the blogger issued a sincere thanks to the New York Police Department, as well as the Apple security guard who was on duty at the time.

by MacNN Staff