It was a terrible way to go and it appears it could have been avoided.
The death of a 64-year-old woman in a horrific elevator accident in Sheung Shui earlier this year was caused by an “ineffective brake system”, according to a report on the May incident by the Electrical and Mechanical Services Department (EMSD).
More specifically, parts of the electromechanical brake system of lift number five in the building named Paris Court were found to have not been lubricated for a “long time” causing the components to overheat and jam and wear down the brake lining.
Further problems caused by the (more details in the report) un-lubricated brake plungers combined to reduce the braking force.
On the morning of the incident, CCTV footage showed the lift climbing “unintentionally” four times, though no one was injured in those mishaps.
When the victim attempted to board the lift on the seventh floor, investigators found there was insufficient breaking force to stop the elevator’s upward motion.
“The victim tried to enter the lift car but was trapped in between the landing lintel and the lift car door sill,” the report recounted.
“She struck to escape from trapping but eventually fell down to the bottom of the lift pit and died.”
According a lift expert that spoke to the SCMP, the fault should have been noticeable if maintenance work was carried out thoroughly.
The EDSM said it would continue a criminal probe into the incident and take legal action if violations of the law were found.
The incident followed another lift accident in April, which left a couple in a critical condition.
In that case, the elevator ascended to the top of a 46-storey building in Tsuen Wan and crashed in the shaft’s ceiling.
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