Six individuals were trapped in a lift at Jurong West for 50 minutes on Tuesday (Oct. 4), while carrying a deceased relative’s body to a wake on the first floor.
According to CNA, the town council said preliminary findings showed that due to this overload, the lift “had overshot its landing at level one”.
“Due to the variance in the levelling of the lift and its landing, a safety mechanism was triggered and the lift doors remained closed,” a spokeswoman said in response to queries from CNA regarding the incident.
The Facebook post that detailed the experience went viral on social media.
Here’s what the user wrote,
“04/10/2022: 6 people and a deceased were trap in a lift for 50 minutes at Blk 760 Jurong West St 74. Five lift technician and a team from the SCDF were called”.
“Friends & relatives had to pierce the lift door from outside with an umbrella to create gap for ventilation. Two peoples were seen fanning at the gap to cool the air inside the lift”.
In the post, the user also pointed to residents claiming that lift breakdowns occur frequently at the location, and that the lift could only hold three people before it overloads.
The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said it received a call for assistance at Block 760 Jurong West Street 74 at about 2.05pm on that day. A fire engine and an ambulance were dispatched, and SCDF arrived at the location within seven minutes.
“Upon SCDF’s arrival, six persons who were carrying a deceased person, were found trapped inside a lift carriage on the first floor,” it said. SCDF said lift technicians were already at the scene and working to release the lift doors.
“Throughout the incident, SCDF remained in communication with the six persons and assessed that there was no immediate medical emergency,” SCDF said.
“SCDF also used hydraulic equipment to create a small gap between the lift doors to improve ventilation.”
West Coast Town Council Apologises
West Coast Town Council said the lift’s lights and fans were functioning normally while the passengers were inside. At about 2.45pm, the lift technicians managed to open the lift doors and assessed a person for breathing difficulties, said SCDF. It added that the person refused to be conveyed to the hospital.
The town council said that lift technicians also conducted a detailed inspection of the lift and it resumed operation on the same day.
“We would like to apologise to the family for the unpleasant experience,” it added.
According to its preliminary findings, the lift was “overloaded” while six people were escorting a family member who had passed away to the first level for the wake.
This exceeded the lift’s capacity limit of 545kg, which resulted in the lift overshooting its landing at the ground level, acc to Today Online.
The town council added that monthly servicing is conducted for all lifts in its area and that recent servicing on Sept 26 had certified the lift is in working condition and fit for use.
“Based on the lift telemonitoring system records, there is no fault detected on this lift in the past three months,” it said.
As part of the estate improvements where older lifts are progressively replaced with newer ones, the lift at Block 760 is scheduled for replacement in second quarter of 2023, the town council added.
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