Two men who were rescued from a flooded elevator in Toronto say they are thankful for the police officers who managed to pry the doors open just in time to save their lives.

Klever Freire and Gabriel Otrin had been working late in their office near Jane Street and St. Clair Avenue when they took the elevator down to the basement to check on Freire’s car as a rain storm pounded the city.

“We had heard there was a little bit of water coming into the basement, so we were going downstairs to move my car,” Freire told CTV Toronto. “Gabriel actually just came down with me by accident, thankfully, because he was the only one with a cell phone.”

The pair panicked, then prayed, then decided they had to get out of the elevator no matter what as it rapidly filled with water, Freire said.

He said he kept thinking about his daughter during the ordeal.

“I was supposed to go pick her up two hours earlier to go for a movie, but I was unable to because I had a bunch of emergency things come up that I stayed here for,” Freire said. “So that was a bit eye opening in terms of what matters.”

The two men said they had to punch the elevator ceiling panel open in order to get a cellphone signal and call for help.

Freire explained that once he and Otrin were able to call 911, they had to stress how quickly water was entering the elevator.

“We climbed the handrails, but then we actually ended up breaking them off because in order to get enough leverage to start forcing the panel up we broke the handrails off,” he said. “So that became a little bit more dangerous to keep the phone above water so that we could continue trying to get reception.”

The pair was rescued by Toronto police Const. Ryan Barnett and Const. Josh McSweeney, who raced to the scene once the 911 call was made.

The officers jumped in the murky water and unlocked a door which gave them access to the elevator where Freire and Otrin were trapped. They then attempted to pry open the elevator doors, but found the crowbar they were using was too long, forcing McSweeney to swim back and find a shorter one.

“From the time we first got there until when I got the second crowbar, the water had risen six plus inches within a few minutes,” McSweeney told a news conference Wednesday.

Using the shorter crowbar, Barnett was able to crack open the elevator door.

Gabriel Otrin said he can’t thank the two officers enough.

“I want to thank police for showing up so quickly and for finding a way to pry open the elevator,” he told Toronto’s breaking news station CP24. “I’d like to meet them someday and shake their hands.”

Otrin said he injured his hand while trying to break through the top of the elevator.

“I climbed up on the railing and tried to push the panel, but it wasn’t moving. I was mostly using my head, it was more effective.”

Barnett said he was glad they were close by and able to help.

“I went to bed, I couldn’t sleep. I was very excited and happy. You get to save a couple of people's’ lives. It’s what we do this job for,” Barnett said. “I’m sure any other officers who got the call would’ve done the exact same thing.”