Woman Trapped for Over Two Hours After Apartment Elevator Jumps and Crashes Through Roof
Udaipur – A horrific incident occurred at the Amar Vilas Apartment in Udaipur, India, when a resident named Bhagyashree was trapped in an elevator for more than two hours on Tuesday morning. The incident occurred at around 8:20 a.m. local time.
According to a report in the Times of India, the elevator Bhagyashree was riding down to the ground floor suddenly malfunctioned. Instead of descending, the elevator shot upwards at high speed and crashed into the ceiling wall on the seventh floor.
Bhagyashree, a sixth-floor resident, said that when the elevator crashed, the lights went out and part of the roof collapsed on her. The elevator should have been stopped by the safety system and governor—a mechanical safety device that monitors the elevator's speed and activates the emergency brakes if the speed exceeds a predetermined safe limit.
Bhagyashree added that she screamed for help, but her voice went unheard for a long time. Finally, a domestic helper on the sixth floor heard her screams and alerted the other residents.
After a crowd gathered, it took time to pinpoint Bhagyashree's exact location. They discovered she was trapped behind a ceiling wall on the top floor. Rescuers then used a drill to break through the wall and managed to free her at 10:30 a.m., after more than two hours of critical entrapment.
Quoted from :
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/woman-rescued-after-2-hrs-as-apartment-lift-crashes/articleshow/125897087.cms
Incident readiness analysis: that elevator malfunctions can occur at any time
The incident in Udaipur highlights that elevator malfunctions are not merely an inconvenience, but a potentially fatal safety issue. Critical incidents such as elevators surging or plummeting indicate failures in the safety circuit and governor mechanisms that are supposed to prevent excessive speed.
How Does a Governor Work? (Safety Mechanism)
The governor works together with another safety device called the Safety Brake (Safety Gear/Safeties) which is installed under the elevator cabin.
- Speed Control: The governor is connected to a sheave (wheel or pulley) that rotates in conjunction with the governor cable. As long as the elevator is running at normal speed, the governor cable moves steadily.
- Overspeed Detection: If the elevator suddenly malfunctions (e.g., the main cable breaks or traction is lost) and the cabin speed increases drastically beyond the specified safe limit:
- – Centrifugal force inside the governor will cause the cam mechanism, or jaws, inside to be thrown out.
- – This mechanism will lock the governor cable.
- Emergency Brake Activation: Since the governor cable is now locked, but the elevator cab is still moving downward, the locked cable pulls the activating lever connected to the Safety Brake below the cab.
- Cab Stopped: This safety brake then grips the guide rails along the walls of the elevator shaft, forcing the cab to a complete and safe stop.
Conclusion: A governor is a warning system that detects speed hazards. Without a governor, there's no way to activate the emergency brakes (safeties) if the elevator is free-falling or accelerating too fast. Governor failure is a major cause of elevator incidents where the elevator soars or plummets uncontrollably.
In this case, regular checks and routine maintenance, using a logbook closely monitored by the vendor and the administrator, is highly recommended.
1. Incident Readiness in Apartments
All apartments, especially premium ones, should have a clear incident protocol, but this incident shows a lack of the following:
- Emergency Communication System: The delay in discovering Bhagyashree suggests the elevator's emergency button may have been malfunctioning, not connected to the 24-hour security post, or unmonitored. A good system should trigger an alarm directly to the building management control room.
- Escalation Response Time: A two-hour rescue time indicates the absence of a 24/7 team of technicians or a vendor with adequate equipment (drilling machines) for emergency rescue.
- Incident Log Monitoring: If an elevator experiences a safety failure as fatal as this, management should ensure the vendor records all previous incidents in its maintenance log to detect failure patterns.
2. Responsibility and Mitigation
In a safety incident of this magnitude, responsibilities and mitigation must be clear:
- Minor Incident: The elevator stops briefly. Handled by a standby technician within 1 hour.
- Medium Incident: A component fails, and the elevator is inoperable. Handled by the vendor within 4-6 hours, with regular updates to residents.
- Major Incident: The elevator stalls during operation, speeds up, or crashes. The Building Manager is primarily responsible, who must immediately call a specialized rescue team and ensure the vendor replaces the main component, not just repairs the damaged part.
Guidelines for Better Elevator Management
To ensure the safety and quality of the facilities residents pay so much for, apartment managers need to implement professional elevator management standards, from the procurement process (tendering) to troubleshooting.
For reference, managers and residents can refer to the book "Misteri Lift di Apartemen dan Solusinya" by FPA-ID (Indonesian Apartment Residents Forum). This book provides practical guidance on:
- Establishing a strict Service Level Agreement (SLA) with maintenance vendors.
- A mechanism for periodically evaluating vendor performance.
Monitoring the maintenance process to ensure vital components (especially safety systems and governors) are replaced on schedule to prevent elevator incidents that harm occupants.
