Man killed in fall in Center City elevator shaft

A 25-year-old man fell to his death down an elevator shaft in a Center City apartment building on Friday night.

The man, whose name was not released pending family notification, entered the elevator shaft on the fifth floor of a building in the 700 block of Chestnut Street before midnight.

Police said the man did not realize that the elevator car was not at his floor; they added that the light was out.

Police said that he was a resident of the building, although some neighbors thought he might have been a guest.

They described the elevator as an old-style gated elevator. The five-floor rental building, also older and with outside fire escapes, is in the Washington Square West neighborhood near several trendy restaurants.

The accident was reported shortly before midnight. The victim was pronounced dead at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital at 1:14 a.m. Saturday.

A spokesman for the state Department of Labor and Industry said an inspector would be dispatched to the building Monday.

"We're working with local law enforcement to ensure the elevator is out of service and secure," said the spokesman, Christopher S. Manlove.

City Licenses and Inspections Commissioner Frances Burns said her agency has no jurisdiction over elevators.