Man sneakily lives in a shopping mall for six months completely undetected

07 November 2023 , 12:38

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The man had set up a little area under the stairs of the shopping centre (Image: Shanghai Daily)

We are all familiar with the story of Mehran Karimi Nasseri, who inspired the 2004 film The Terminal after it was revealed he had been living in the departure lounge of Paris's Charles de Gaulle Airport for a span of 18 years.

And this week, security guards were stunned to discover that a man had set up a home inside a shopping centre in Shanghai in a similar fashion.

It's thought the youngster had been living in the mall for around six months and had set up an area under a staircase complete with a tent, a table, a computer, and even an ergonomic chair.

It's thought the man had been living in the mall for around six months (Shanghai Daily)

The man had set up a little area under the stairs of the shopping centre (Shanghai Daily)

Despise the fact he would regularly leave his area to use plug sockets inside the mall, he managed to evade security for half a year. He was first discovered by a lone guard - but he took pity on him after the man said he needed a place to study for an exam.

But on October 30, another guard stumbled upon his set-up and he was arrested. While this man proved entirely harmless, there are other examples of hidden 'hideouts' that are altogether more creepy. Earlier this year, a woman discovered a complete stranger had been secretly living in the floorboards underneath her home "for months".

'I don't want children staying up late at weekends - I really need adult time'

Ashly Guardino, from California , explained that she heard a strange noise and thought someone was on her roof. She decided to investigate. In her video, which garnered over six million views in just a few days, Ashly said: "I'm standing at the front door and I'm, like, peeking out and I see the grass moving," she said "A f***ing arm comes out of the hole and is feeling around."

She panned the camera to show the open hole near her front door before moving to the side of her house to reveal how the suspect got into the crawl space.

She said: "A whole a** man living here for months. Living underneath the house. You know how creepy it is to see a f***ing arm come out... feeling around the side of the house?"

The video then shows a police officer speaking to the man under Ashly's home before cutting to two officers with their guns drawn. They ask the man to climb out of the hole.

The man eventually leaves the crawl space and is placed under arrest. After getting a good look at the man, Ashly claimed that he was "high as s**t" and records the officers escorting him into a police cruiser before the video ends.

Gemma Strong