A waiter at a restaurant in Hanoi died on Tuesday night after half of his body became stuck in a dumbwaiter he was loading food into.
Customers in the restaurant in Hoan Kiem District tried to stop the freight elevator and free him, but were unable to do so.
The 19-year-old died shortly after.
Police are investigating the case.
Deadly elevator incidents are not uncommon in Vietnam, although one involving a dumbwaiter may be more rare.
Five construction workers fell to their deaths when a temporary elevator collapsed in the central city of Da Nang in January last year.
In 2015, an 18-year-old fell to death at a university in Hai Phong when the elevator door he was leaning against opened and he plunged down the shaft. A mechanic in Saigon was also crushed to death by an elevator that same year while conducting maintenance work.
Now watch out for other rare causes of fatal accidents in Vietnam.