BHOPAL: Two persons — both women — were seriously injured after the elevator they had boarded crashed to the ground floor on Sunday afternoon. The incident occurred in Neelgagan Apartment, near Carewell Hospital, in Kohefiza. The lift crashed to the ground floor from the second floor. The elevator doors could not be opened for nearly half an hour and all the victims remained locked inside with their injuries until an engineer was summoned. Among the 7 persons who were trapped inside the lift was a one-and-a half-year-old girl.
The victims were screaming for help and two girls were crying due to suffocation until they were brought out. According to the residents, the builder had taken permission for six floors for the apartment but he has developed a seventh floor on it. The residents of the building said that they had warned the builder to maintain the elevator earlier, too, but he did not listen. The victims had gone on the fourth floor of the building to attend a function and, while they were coming down, the elevator developed a glitch at the second floor. It came crashing down and got locked, leaving all the victims in a claustrophobic state. Two of the victims sustained serious injuries and all are undergoing treatment in a private hospital.
According to the police, the victims — Komal Sharma, 50, and her daughter-in-law, Anjali Sharma, 31, had gone to the fourth floor to attend a birthday party with Anjali’s one-and-a half-year-old daughter, Naisa. Besides the family, a 60-year-old man, Shreechand Lalwani, his wife, Lajwanti, their relative, Bhavna aka Neena Lalwani, 51, and Lakshmi Malkani, 60, had also entered the lift. As the lift descended to the ground floor, it suddenly began to shake violently and crashed to the ground floor.
On Sunday, when the families were returning after the function, the incident occurred. The builder, Wazeed Khan, could not be contacted over the phone. The Kohefiza police have registered a case and have initiated a probe into it.
City superintendent of police, Shahjahanabad, Nagendra Pateriya said the two seriously injured — Komal and Lajwanti — have sustained fractures, while the others have sustained minor injuries. He said the child was safe.
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