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Woman gets trapped in an elevator for a month

By T.K. Randall
March 6, 2016 · Comment icon 26 comments

Being trapped in an elevator is the stuff of nightmares. Image Credit: CC BY-SA 3.0 Harrihealey02
A woman in China died after workers shut down an elevator without checking to see if anyone was inside.
Being stuck inside a broken-down elevator remains one of the most common fears of the modern age, but for one poor woman in the northern city of Xi'an earlier this year, this nightmarish situation actually became a reality after an elevator in a residential building unexpectedly malfunctioned.

When workers arrived to carry out repairs they shouted up to see if anyone was inside and, having received no response, shut down the power and headed off home for the Lunar New Year holiday.
Unfortunately they failed to return for an entire month by which time it was far too late.

An investigation by local authorities concluded that the woman, who was 43 years old and had lived on her own in the building, had died due to the maintenance company's failure to open the car and check whether there was anyone inside before cutting off the power.

The incident follows another accident in China that happened last July when a woman fell through an escalator to her death after a metal platform at the top suddenly gave way without warning.

Source: Yahoo! News | Comments (26)




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Recent comments on this story
Comment icon #17 Posted by Hugh 9 years ago
As I said earlier, it was a very tragic story. I'm wondering if there would have been a way to escape somehow, if someone like MacGyver had found themselves in there...
Comment icon #18 Posted by Absinthe 9 years ago
thats a lawsuit for sure
Comment icon #19 Posted by Princess Serenity 9 years ago
My fear of elevators just went up!
Comment icon #20 Posted by DieChecker 9 years ago
As I said earlier, it was a very tragic story. I'm wondering if there would have been a way to escape somehow, if someone like MacGyver had found themselves in there... The elevators on TV always have a trap door in the roof. Maybe her elevator was a Chinese knock off however.
Comment icon #21 Posted by White Unicorn 9 years ago
The elevators on TV always have a trap door in the roof. Maybe her elevator was a Chinese knock off however. A trap door is not much help when you can't reach it and you're in the dark. I was last one working late and didn't think about when I got on company elevator. It was an old one that the janitor would turn off each night. Being Friday I thought I was trapped until 6am Monday. I was between floors thinking how embarrassing because I will go to bathroom! I didn't have a cell phone since they were the radio type back then. Alarm didn't work and neither did the phone when the lights went ou... [More]
Comment icon #22 Posted by Hugh 9 years ago
The elevators on TV always have a trap door in the roof. Yes, I was thinking about that, and wondering if there would have been a way to use clothing to tie onto something and make a loop to stick a foot in and step up to the roof with, then you could feel around for the door and get up on top of the elevator, and pry open the doors on the next floor above to escape...
Comment icon #23 Posted by DieChecker 9 years ago
I got out though, by prying doors open, there was enough space to jump down to next floor. It took me over an hour to even be able to open doors. Adrenaline kick and desperation. I considered myself lucky but never took the elevator again except during the mornings. This gives me the thought that every elevator should have a crowbar as well as a phone in that little panel on the wall. So if anyone does get trapped... Say acting stupid in a fire situation, and the elevator gets locked down.... Then they can more easily pry the doors open.
Comment icon #24 Posted by Hugh 9 years ago
This gives me the thought that every elevator should have a crowbar as well as a phone in that little panel on the wall. So if anyone does get trapped... Say acting stupid in a fire situation, and the elevator gets locked down.... Then they can more easily pry the doors open. Only thing there is that with one in every elevator, it wouldn't be long before people would be using it when they shouldn't be, and ending up getting cut in half when the safety interlock fails and the elevator moves unexpectedly.
Comment icon #25 Posted by third_eye 9 years ago
Or one convenient mugging weapon or worse in the most opportune moments for those with a penchant for lawlessness ~
Comment icon #26 Posted by White Unicorn 9 years ago
This gives me the thought that every elevator should have a crowbar as well as a phone in that little panel on the wall. So if anyone does get trapped... Say acting stupid in a fire situation, and the elevator gets locked down.... Then they can more easily pry the doors open. When it happened to me, the answer for us was expanding safety procedures and was quite simple. Janitor had to power down elevator on ground floor after opening the door. Still in times of fire emergencies or power outages would leave gaps. Trap doors need to have handles and something to make them more accessible to reac... [More]


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