An investigation is underway after an elevator malfunction at SM City Cebu sent 11 people, including three minors and the operator, sent them for a terrifying plunge from the third floor, then left them trapped inside for another 20 minutes.
According to a report by Sun Star Cebu, the elevator dropped from the third floor of the building last Tuesday, June 6, before emergency brakes kicked into action.
Victor and Carmen Cosep, two of the elevator’s passengers, plan to file charges in court.
The couple visited the office of Cebu mayor Tomas Osmeña and asked local government agencies to investigate the incident
Carmen said there was no emergency team who checked on the victims after what happened. She added that the toolbox inside the elevator contained a makeup kit.
“Imagine the fear that we felt after the elevator fell. They did not even give us water to calm us. There were no emergency team who went to see and check us. I think that should be on their emergency protocol,” Carmen told reporters.
Victor said that the mall management wanted him to erase the video he took while they were stuck inside the elevator.
“They want me to delete it,” he said in the report.
A post by Facebook user Nikka Adrienne is going viral online.
SM City Cebu released a statement saying that “no one was hurt” and that “technical investigations are currently ongoing.”
But in a Facebook post, Cebu Mayor Tommy Osmeña questioned the statement.
“How can SM consider the issue ‘resolved’ when there are people still complaining to me on how they were treated? Multiple witnesses have stated that they were threatened by security into deleting the videos that they took of the aftermath,” he wrote.
He added that the Cebu city legal office now has copies of the videos.
