5 lift accidents in S’pore in 8 months—here’s what you need to know about it

Last Updated on 2016-06-23 , 12:26 pm

Most of us take the lift daily to get from our homes to wherever it is we need to be and honestly, we take the rides rather complacently.

I think we can all agree that most of us have never thought about the possibility of a lift mishap while we go about our daily lives and why should we when we have perfectly working ones right? Wrong.

Because in less than half a year, we already have 5 cases of lift malfunctions across the island and they have left physical and emotional traumas on the victims. Here’s what happened.

Bukit Panjang, Petir Road, Blk 150
Madam Yeo Choon Tee, age 59, was heading out to pick her granddaughter at about noon on June 7, Tuesday when the lift she was in decided not to open its doors on the first floor.

Instead, it shot up “faster than normal” to the 11^th floor, sped down to the third and then zoomed up again before coming to an abrupt stop between the 12^th and 13^th floor.

Madam Yeo’s fall at the end caused her to suffer a compression fracture to her lumbar vertebrae and she was warded at Ng Teng Fong General Hospital overnight for observations.

Doctors have told her she will need six weeks of recovery time.

Pasir Ris Street 21, Blk 247
An elderly man was fatally wounded when his motorised wheelchair toppled and he fell backwards head first which resulted in a fractured skull and internal bleeding in the brain.

Mr Lim Hang Chiang, 77, had entered the lift at the 10^th floor and was going down to the first floor. He did not notice that the lift had stopped above the ground, creating a gap of 25cm and that resulted in the fall.

Mr Lim passed away in the hospital at about 2.15am on May 16, one day after the accident.

Tah Ching Road, Blk 322
On October 9, 2015, Madam Khoo Bee Hua’s left hand was severed by an elevator. Her dog which had been on a leash did not follow her into the lift and because the leash was only 2mm thick, the sensors failed to recognise it (sensors can only recognise obstructions at least 10mm thick).

This caused the leash to tighten around her hand as the lift ascended.

Punggol, Edgefield Plains, Blk 114
Nobody was injured in this accident but nonetheless, it is a life-threatening event that has to be taken into consideration.

Apparently, in January 2016, the lift at Block 114 was suspended after the inner door failed to close as the lift ascended the block.

Ang Mo Kio Street 31, Blk 317
On March 7, 2016, a lift in Block 317 shot up 17 floors suddenly, causing 36-year-old Indonesian domestic helper Evi Lisnawati to fall and hit her back.

She was finally released from her 90-minute ordeal when the Singapore Civil Defence Force successfully rescued her with the help of a lift technician.

This article was first published on goodyfeed.com