Eight members of a family got stuck in their society’s lift for almost two hours on Wednesday night and had to be rescued by a joint team of Gautam Budh Nagar police and fire department around 11.30pm. The family included a toddler aged three years and two senior citizens, police said, adding that all of them are doing well physically.
Police said the incident took place around 9pm at Golf Gardenia society in Alpha-2, Greater Noida. The family lives on the first floor of a five-storey building in the society. Those stuck included Ravindra Pal Singh (66), Kusum Singh (65), Dushyant Pratap Singh (39), Astha Singh (32), Saksham Singh (8), Ena Singh (3), Om Vishwas Singh (23), Aditya Singh (17).
“We took the lift around 9.30pm from the ground floor to the first floor. But instead of going up, the lift went down to the basement and got stuck there. Although the light and fans inside the lift were working, it was suffocating, especially for my toddler and aged parents. It was difficult to contact anyone since the phones did not have any signal inside the lift. It was only after much effort that we got the phone signal and immediately contacted the security guard of the society seeking help. He came with electricians and other residents to the basement to help rescue us,” said Dushyant Pratap Singh.
He added that residents and electricians continued to try to open the lift door but it was not budging. “Although the electrician was coordinating with the lift maintenance team over phone, on how to open the lift, they were not able to help us. To maintain the air circulation inside the lift, residents forced opened the lift doors just a bit and wedged in a brick to allow in air,” he said.
Ultimately around 10.30pm, the security staff called for help on Dial112.
Pradeep Kumar Chaubey, chief fire officer, Gautam Budh Nagar, said they received the call around 10.30pm. “The information was routed to the fire department after a resident dialled 112. Immediately, a team of fire safety personnel reached the spot. The lift was stuck in the basement of the society and the rescue team cut open the door using hydraulic cutting equipment. Eight people stuck in the lift were rescued,” said the officer.
Officials said it took almost one hour to complete the rescue operation.
Chaubey added that preliminary investigation found that the lift’s machinery had malfunctioned. “The lift had a free fall to the basement from the ground floor. Such cases are usually seen when there is an interruption in electricity supply. However, in this case, the power was on but the lift malfunctioned,” he said.
Police said that no complaint was received in the matter from residents. “A team from Beta-2 police station had also reached the society on receiving the Dial112 call. The eight members of the family were rescued safely with the help of fire department personnel around 11.30pm. We have not received any complaint in the matter,” Arvind Kumar, assistant commissioner of police-1, Greater Noida, said.
Karan Bhambri, vice-president of the society’s residents’ welfare association, said the lift malfunctioned because of overloading. “We had a detailed discussion with the lift engineer, who told us that the lift went down as it was overloaded. The maximum weight it can carry is 500 kilos and the load was more when eight people got in. We have not received any complaint in the matter from the family or other residents,” he said.
