A 74-year-old man has been found alive and well inside the wreckage of a housing complex which burnt down five days ago.

Engineers discovered the pensioner when they were inspecting the Arthur Capper Senior Public Housing Complex in Washington DC on Monday.

The building was gutted by flames last Wednesday after a fire broke out near the top of the building at around 3pm, with the roof falling in hours later.

Firefighters and marines attended the scene and checked the burning building to evacuate all tenants, with some elderly residents having to be carried out.

Days later, engineers heard the man shouting from his apartment as they inspected the structure of the building. They forced his front door open to see him sitting calmly in his chair, uninjured.

He was taken to hospital for a check-up.

Doug Buchanan, spokesman for the Washington DC fire department, said it was unclear how the man was missed when firefighters ran through the building.

No-one emerged seriously injured, although a few tenants were taken to hospital to treat minor injuries.