Eye witness account of the elevator incident
A woman fell to her death down an elevator shaft when the elevator got stuck between two floors.
The incident happened on February 5 during load shedding in the central business district (CBD).
One of the people trapped in the elevator has given her account of events to The WITBANK NEWS recently. Vikki Viljoen who works in the building was using the elevator at the time. There were apparently four other people in the elevator with her, including the woman that died.
She said that when the power went out and the elevator was trapped between the two floors, the man who was with them in the elevator saw a gap leading out onto the third floor below them. The inner door of the elevator was apparently easily opened and the outer door of the elevator was somehow also open. The man squeezed through the opening and landed on the third floor.
The witness said that the victim that fell down the shaft apparently tried to follow him through the gap as she squeezed through and landed on the ground. She apparently lost her balance and fell backwards into the shaft to her death. Viljoen said that the rescue services were only called afterwards and the three remaining people stuck in the elevator, including herself were only freed 45 minutes later.
The story told by other witnesses on the scene and the Fire Chief PS Motlashuping who arrived on the scene after the rescue seems to have suffered from the broken telephone effect. Fire Chief told the WITBANK NEWS that the accident occurred during the rescue of the people trapped in the elevator. “I don’t know why they would blame themselves like that. They did a great job getting us out of the elevator,” said Viljoen wishing to set the record straight.
The elevator manufacturer Otis has conducted an internal investigation, which is standard procedure for the international company whenever an accident occurs. It is done to improve their services and products. The investigation will not be made public.
