Yesterday afternoon a Times Square lift plunged four storeys, from the 18th floor to the 14th, while carrying eight passengers. After the plunge, the passengers were stuck in the lift for 10 minutes before getting rescued.
One passenger, surnamed Mak, told Apple Daily that she got in the lift on the 9th floor to get to the 18th floor at around 1:20pm.
Just as the doors should have opened when the elevator reached her intended floor, she heard two loud bangs before the lift fell four storeys in about five seconds.
The passengers immediately pressed the alarm button, and a staff member responded, telling them not to worry and that help was on the way.
However, the passengers got more and more frantic, as the air-conditioning was no longer functioning and the lift got increasingly stuffy and hot.
One old man kept pressing the alarm button, while another middle-aged woman complained that she couldn’t breathe and was feeling faint.
Mak texted her husband that it was “starting to feel very stuffy”, but she must have been watching a lot of Bear Grylls because her survival instincts kicked right in: she told Apple Daily that she started talking and moving less in order to conserve the oxygen in the lift.
Ten minutes later, the passengers were freed by elevator engineers, and an ambulance was on the scene for the lady who felt faint.
A rep for Times Square said they are taking the incident very seriously, and that they are investigating the issue with the Electrical and Mechanical Services Department and the elevator contractor.
They added that lifts are inspected every two weeks, and that it stopped at the 14th floor becase safety mechanisms kicked in.
Photo: Wendy via Flickr
