Apartment elevator free fall incident: almost "swallowed" residents, horrifying camera recording

Many residents living in the HH2C Linh Dam apartment building, Hoang Liet ward, Hoang Mai district, Hanoi, were shocked when they saw elevator number 13 having a problem, pulling up to the upper floors even though the door was not completely closed.

At that time, a man had stepped halfway in when the elevator suddenly pulled up before the door was fully closed. Faced with the unexpected situation, the man quickly pulled his foot out and was lucky to escape by a hair's breadth. At that time, there were about 10 people in the elevator, the young man in the elevator tried to pull the door but failed.

Through investigation, the man who escaped the incident above was Mr. Nguyen Manh Cuong (36 years old), a resident of HH2C Linh Dam apartment building.

On the same afternoon, Mr. Cuong shared that at around 7am that same day, he and everyone else entered elevator number 13. At this time, the elevator was not working, so he and some people quickly stepped out. In a moment, the elevator showed signs of working again, with about 10 people inside. Mr. Cuong had only stepped halfway when the elevator suddenly closed the cabin door, pulling up before the door was fully closed.

"I quickly pulled my legs out of reflex, crawled out and fell backwards, luckily narrowly escaping death. When I got out, I thought it wasn't too dangerous. When I watched the video again, I felt extremely confused. In that case, if it was a child or an elderly person, it would have been terrifying," Cuong recounted.

According to regulations, the building has 6 elevators, residents from the 20th floor and above are allowed to use 3 elevators, but two of them were damaged on the morning of August 26. Mr. Cuong and the residents were forced to use elevator number 13, because there was no other choice.

After the video recording the scene of Mr. Cuong's narrow escape from death was widely shared on social networks, many relatives and friends continuously called to ask about him and were happy that he had escaped.

Mr. Cuong added that he has moved to the HH2C Linh Dam apartment building for 8 years. He and the residents have experienced elevator failures many times. Once, he entered the cabin but could not press the floor button, the elevator shook. A moment later, the elevator door opened, he got out, and chose another way to move.

"Representatives of each floor have repeatedly gathered residents' opinions and submitted petitions to the building's management board to report elevator problems, but they have not been resolved. This has made many residents angry, saying that they still pay full service fees but the quality they receive is not worth it," said Mr. Cuong.

Ms. T., who lives at HH2C Linh Dam, said that she also experienced an elevator accident this morning. At around 7:15 a.m., the elevator moving from the upper floor to the first floor suddenly fell into the elevator shaft and got stuck. The accident happened right at rush hour, with many adults and children in the cabin.

Residents quickly pressed the emergency button inside the cabin. Security guards were present to bring chairs, help adults climb from inside, and at the same time carry many children out safely.

"The elevator is broken all the time, many residents do not dare to take the elevator, they accept to climb the stairs to the upper floors," said Ms. T.

Regarding the incident of the elevator of the HH2C Linh Dam apartment building, Hoang Liet ward, Hoang Mai district, Hanoi, Mr. Le Thanh Than - Chairman of Muong Thanh Group (project investor) said that there has been no report from the subordinates, however, when he has information, he will request the units to report and focus on fixing the problem.

Mr. Than said: "This is an unwanted incident, so the units are focusing on fixing it, visiting the health situation and encouraging residents who have encountered the incident, and the investor will focus on fixing it."

It is known that recently (August 16), representatives of residential groups belonging to the HH Linh Dam apartment complex sent a petition to Muong Thanh Group and Linh Dam Housing Service Management Board to resolve residents' concerns about elevator operation.

According to feedback, in the past two months, especially since Mesco Company handed over to DHE Elevator Company, there have been frequent incidents of broken elevators that were not repaired in time or even when technicians came to repair them, they were still unable to fix them.

"The elevator system has to stop working, seriously affecting the movement of residents, especially during rush hours in the morning and afternoon, directly affecting the children's education and the residents' working hours, making residents upset. Common incidents include elevators falling freely from multiple floors, elevators hanging between 2 floors, elevator doors not closing or not closing tightly on floors, and elevator group errors. There are buildings with 3 broken elevators during rush hours," the residents' petition said.