A young American woman was rescued from a hostage situation after raising the alarm via a food delivery app. — AFP Relaxnews
It’s easy to underestimate the potential usefulness of the “additional instructions” box that lets you leave information or comments when ordering a burger or a pizza for home delivery. However, this little box helped save the life of a young woman in the US who was being held in a hostage situation.
People usually use this part of a take-out order form to ask for no onions in their burger or for extra mayo. The space for adding additional comments or instructions to a food order placed on app-based delivery platforms is usually a space to help restaurants satisfy our little whims. But, in the case of one 24-year-old woman in the US, this humble feature helped save her life.
US media including Today and NBC report that the victim logged on to the Grubhub delivery app, a service similar to Uber Eats operating in the United States and the United Kingdom, to raise the alarm. Held hostage for five hours in the New York neighbourhood of the Bronx, she had the idea of placing an order and using the opportunity to call for help through this additional information box. It is the restaurant itself that shared the news, thanking the police via its Facebook page.
The young woman requested that the restaurant call the police and remain discreet at the time of the delivery. Officers were then able to respond to the scene in order to bring the hostage situation to an end.
The perpetrator has now been arrested and is facing several charges, including rape, strangulation, unlawful imprisonment and menacing. – AFP Relaxnews
