Lift collapse kills New York man

A man has suffered a grisly death after trying to exit a jammed lift in a luxury New York apartment building the exact moment it started to drop.

Eran Modan, 37, entered the lift with 13 others about 4.15am on Friday before it stalled and the doors opened, not level with the lobby floor, the New York Daily News reports.

When Mr Modan tried to step out of the elevator, it lurched down suddenly, trapping his upper body between the top of the lift and the floor.

"His head was out and his body was in," roommate Mona Zarrin Ramsdell said.

"I got up to him and it looked like he was dead."

Lift inspector Scott Schindler said the elevator was only designed for 10 people.

"They overloaded the elevator," he said.

"It was 14 people in the elevator and it’s on tape."

But the Wall Street Journal contradicted his claims, saying there were only seven people in the lift at the time.

Residents made four complaints about the elevator in between 2009 and 2013, but all were listed as resolved by the Department of Buildings.