A two-year-old boy fell down a lift shaft in Voronezh, Russia, after leaning on a door that suddenly gave way, as his horrified parents watched on. The incident occurred on the ground floor of the family's apartment building, with the toddler plunging approximately six feet into the darkness.
The boy's father, Alexey, leapt into the shaft after his son, fearing that the elevator could descend from a higher floor at any moment. Miraculously, the toddler avoided metal spikes at the base of the shaft. The mother used a torch to locate the child, while neighbours, alerted by screams, held the lift at the third floor to prevent it from lowering and crushing the pair.
Alexey managed to retrieve his son, Matvey, through the damaged door before climbing out himself. The child was rushed to hospital but escaped with only bruises and a fright. 'We were lucky that the neighbours heard the noise, came out, and stopped the lift so it wouldn’t go further,' Alexey said. 'My son was saved by a miracle.'
The Russian Investigative Committee has opened a criminal probe into the incident. Alexey criticised the building's lifts, which were installed just over a year ago, describing them as 'awful' and unreliable. The family's ordeal has raised concerns about lift safety in newly constructed buildings.
