While rare, lift breakdowns can happen out of the blue and trap those using it inside its constricted space without knowing how long it will take for it to be fixed.
A woman recently took to Facebook to share how she and her family were trapped inside the lift at an LRT station for 45 minutes and how the hotlines had failed her in the process.
Stuck inside lift for 45 minutes
In the post, Annie Kang wrote that she and five other family members, both young and old, were trapped inside the lift for 45 minutes after it came to a sudden halt. The emergency bell and intercom buttons also ceased to function as well.
She then tried contacting the hotline numbers posted inside the lift but her calls either went unanswered or straight into voicemail.
Desperate for a way out from the increasingly stuffy and suffocating environment, Annie banged on the lift’s door to alert someone and finally heard a voice from the other side, giving her hope that help was on the way.
‘Technical team is on the way’
To her disappointment, Annie said a staff only managed to pry open a space just enough for a sheet of paper to slit through and told her that the technical team was on the way.
When I asked them how long it would take for the team to arrive, the staff couldn’t give me a definite answer.
“Despite me asking the staff to contact firefighters to come over as everyone else was growing more uncomfortable, I was again told that ‘the technical team was on the way’.”
After much waiting, the technical team finally arrived and opened the lift’s door, a sight that Annie described as “moving”.
The incident has also left Annie with more questions than answers when it came to what would happen if vulnerable groups were to be in the same situation as well.
“I was informed that an interruption in the electrical current caused the lift to break down. Don’t elevators designed for the OKU, elderly, and children have backup power sources?
“If all emergency devices and hotlines aren’t functioning or responsive, doesn’t it make it useless? What if the trapped individual is disabled or can’t knock on the door for help and no one notices? What would the consequences be?” she wrote.
Received a response from RapidKL 3 hours later
Speaking to Sin Chew Daily about the incident, Annie said it occurred at the Damai LRT station when she just entered the lift.
She added that she tagged Transport Minister Anthony Loke, Prasarana, and RapidKL in her post and received a reply from RapidKL three hours after the breakdown.
“I’m not looking to blame anyone but I find it ridiculous and hope that the relevant authorities will thoroughly inspect the lifts at LRT stations,” she said.
Read the post here:
We hope the authorities will inspect all lifts at LRT stations so that this doesn’t happen again!
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