Elevator rides are usually quick and uneventful, but that wasn’t the case for a family of three who got trapped in a lift at UOB Plaza 1 for over three hours on their way to dinner.
Thankfully, Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) officers arrived at the scene and rescued them.
UOB has since apologised for the incident and conducted thorough inspections of all elevators in the building.
According to Lianhe Zaobao, the incident happened at around 6.30pm on Sunday (9 Oct) in one of the lifts at UOB Plaza 1.
The family of three included 74-year-old Mr Chia, his 41-year-old wife and their 14-year-old daughter.
Having made a reservation, the trio were heading to the Si Chuan Dou Hua Restaurant on the 60th floor of the building.
Source: Si Chuan Dou Hua
They stepped into the lift without suspecting anything until it suddenly jolted at the fourth floor, before descending to the second.
As his wife tried to calm their frightened daughter, Mr Chia rang the alarm bell in the lift.
After getting no response, he dialled the emergency number in the lift. The responder who answered his call assured Mr Chia that maintenance staff were on their way.
Source: Singapore Commercial Space
Sadly, the family’s relief was short-lived as the technician allegedly said he was unable to locate the problem and repair the lift.
At this point, Mr Chia became anxious about the lack of oxygen and decided to call the emergency number again. This time, the responder told him that another technician would arrive to help.
Unfortunately, the second technician was unable to repair the lift as well.
At his wits’ end, Mr Chia called the police an hour later at 7.30pm.
The Straits Times (ST) reported that the SCDF received an alert regarding the incident at 7pm and found three people stuck in a lift.
While the lift technicians worked on repairing the lift, firefighters initially wanted to open the emergency side door.
But since a metal beam within the lift shaft was partially blocking the entrance, it was unsafe for them to evacuate the family that way.
The firefighters eventually entered through a hatch on top. They then used a ladder to help the family climb out and cross over into the adjacent, functional lift.
After 3.5 hours, the family was finally freed at 10.30pm.
Both the building manager and UOB have since apologised to the family for the incident.
Citing a spokesperson from UOB, ST stated that the lights and ventilation were running while the family was trapped, and medical assistance was provided to them upon rescue.
Following the incident, the affected lift has ceased operations and the incident is under investigation.
UOB also conducted thorough inspections of the other lifts in the building.
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Featured image adapted from Commercialproperties.sg and Lianhe Zaobao.
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