A tourist from the United States found himself locked inside the luggage hold on an Israeli bus, travelling from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, and had to call the emergency services in order to be rescued.
The 18-year-old who boarded the Egged line 947 bus last Saturday, said he had climbed inside the hold in order to retrieve his suitcase. To his surprise, the door of the hold suddenly closed, and the bus began moving.
(Instagram)
In a phone call made from inside the luggage hold to the emergency services, made public on Monday, the teen can be heard asking for help, saying, "I am really scared." The New Jersey native also posted a story on his Instagram page, saying he was trapped at the bottom of a moving bus.
"My heart is pounding fast, but I’m fine. I called the police. In the meantime, I’m here among all the bags and suitcases. It’s really stressful.”
Police forces quickly located the bus through GPS and freed the man in the space of 20 minutes.
As police were questioning the bus driver about the events that lead to the tourist' being left inside the luggage hold, the young man continued to film the exchange which he then posted on social media with the caption reading, "All this for me? You shouldn't have."
Egged Spokesperson Ron Ratner said in response to the incident that the passenger climbed inside the luggage hold “without updating the driver in advance and disregarding the warning signs directing passengers to ask help from the driver so that they do not find themselves locked in the hold, as it happened in this unfortunate case.”
“The incident happened on a windy and rainy day, and the driver was unable to foresee irresponsible behavior of the passenger who miraculously demonstrated resourcefulness and courage while traveling, alerting the police to locate and stop the bus on its way to Jerusalem," added the spokesman.