New York, Oct 13 (IANS/EFE): Ricky Martin won the sympathy of thousands of followers in confessing on social networks that this week the door of his apartment closed behind him, leaving him locked outside in his underwear with no keys to get back in.

"What a way to start the day. I just got locked out of my apartment without keys. And alone. The door banged shut. The problem is I was in my underwear," Martin tweeted on his Twitter account, immediately sparking a massive outpouring of compassion from his fans.

The Puerto Rican, currently performing on Broadway in a revival of "Evita", pursued the anecdote saying that he had to go downstairs to reception to look for a copy of the keys.

"As you know at 8.15 a.m. the elevator is full of people going to work," Martin said, adding that the experience gave him a "tremendous rush of daybreak adrenaline" and all he could do about it was laugh.

The incident quickly did the rounds with no less than 7,168 people leaving a comment about it on the singer's Facebook page, more than 37,000 saying they "like" the anecdote and 953 sharing it with their contacts.

Martin posted on his Twitter account a caricature drawn by a follower showing the artist wearing underwear printed with the Puerto Rican flag and reading a newspaper, as some of his astonished neighbours look on.