Horror moment wife plunged to her death in out-of-control lift from 5th floor as husband helplessly watched on CCTV

THIS is the horrifying moment a woman plunged to her death trapped inside a lift as her helpless husband watched on CCTV.

Footage captured the wife's fatal last ride as she stood inside the out-of-control elevator as it went into free fall from the fifth floor of her apartment block and smashed into the ground.

Victim Adriana Maria de Jesus, 45, was on her way to work in Sao Paulo, Brazil when the tragic journey took place.

Her husband Gildelio Alves do Santos was forced to watch his partner's last moments on a security monitor.

Gildelio, the concierge in the Santo Andre Building, said he was horrified when he saw Adriana's panicked face for the final time.

The harrowing footage, first shared on October 9, shows Adriana standing alone in her building's elevator.

Two men then enter the lift after it makes another stop on the seventh floor.

As it heads back down Adriana and the two men, 27, and 63, reach the fifth floor safely before the lift begins to speed up and plunge towards the ground.

A terrified Adriana can be seen throwing her hands in the air and falling backwards as the high speed collision leaves the entire lift engulfed in a thick cloud of smoke, dust and debris.

Husband Gildelio recalled the moment he saw his wife riding the elevator: "I watched the monitor screen and saw my wife going up and everything was normal.

"When it came down I was horrified.

"My heart is broken. I have to find the strength to work and to get on with life because I have to work."

Adriana was rushed to hospital with several serious injuries and in a critical condition.

She tragically died a week later.

The two men also in the lift miraculously survived the fall and after treatment have returned home to their families.

Investigations into the accident - which took place on August 6 - are still ongoing, according to local media.

The lift reportedly hasn't been upgraded for over six decades and is the same one that was first installed in the building.

Sao Paulo Department of Public Security said the case is being investigated as a suspicious death and bodily injury.

A spokesperson said: "We are seeking evidence and listening to witnesses in order to clarify the facts."

The apartment block's contract engineers Atlas Schindler are assisting the police investigation.

They have also urged the building's owners to upgrade the lift immediately.

Adriana and Gildelio had been childhood sweethearts but drifted apart for almost three decades before the pair met again six years ago.

They rekindled their relationship and became husband and wife soon after.

Gildelio added: "We met again and had the chance to live this childhood love for six years."