Man almost crushed by elevator

A South Korean man narrowly avoided being maimed or even killed when he tripped inside a dodgy elevator that continued its ascent with the doors wide open.

The incident took place in Uijeongbu in northern Gyeonggi Province on April 25, South Korean news service SBS reports.

Footage taken from inside the lift shows a man looking down at his phone and crashing into the rising elevator, stumbling inside as it continues its ascent.

The doors close on the man and then retract with the guillotine-like gap between him and the opening in the wall continuing to narrow.

With catastrophic injury seemingly imminent the man manages to slide out of the lift and remove his arms just before they are ripped off in a scene that could have been reminiscent of Arnold Schwarzenegger's 1990 action blockbuster Total Recall.

A law that came into effect in 2000 requires all lifts to have a sensor that will stop the elevator from moving with the doors open.

However, the lift in this particular building was installed in 1999 and appears not to have the required safety device.