Man Trapped Overnight In Diamond District Vault: FDNY

MIDTOWN, NY — A man spent the entire night locked in a bank vault inside a diamond district vault, officials said.

Despite a 10-hour-long rescue effort, the man was ultimately freed when the vault's automatic time unlocked the doors early Wednesday morning.

As the customer was accessing his safety deposit vault at about 8:45 p.m. on Tuesday inside 580 Fifth Ave., a building called the "Diamond Tower," the vault owners closed the doors without realizing the customer was still inside.

Fire officials said the person's health was monitored the whole time and that the vault had a proper HVAC system.

An all-night effort from a FDNY rescue team ensured as they tried to breech the walls of the vault — about 30 inches of concrete with steel reinforcement and plating — for 10 hours with specialized saws and tools, the fire department eventually decided that the best strategy was to wait for the vault's automatic timer to unlock the doors.

The steel plating would have required the team to use torches, which could have harmed the health of the trapped customer, said FDNY Deputy Chief John Sarrocco.

Luckily, the FDNY bet was a good one, and the timer automatically unlocked the doors at around 6:15 a.m. freeing the customer, Sarrocco said.

Officials said that the person was uninjured after his long night of lockup.