Four people stuck in broken lift with dead body

HYDERABAD:

A somewhat nightmarish scene unfolded on Sunday in an elevator of the Liaquat University Hospital's (LUH's) surgical ICU building, when four people had to spend over two hours with a dead body. The hospital management, however, has claimed that it took them only 23 minutes to break open the jammed lift door.

Relatives of deceased Atta Muhammad Soomro, who had died in an accident, were bringing his body to the ground floor in the elevator when it became locked. People who were present on the spot claimed that it took the LUH staff around two hours to break open the door as they responded to the situation very late.

People stuck in the elevator kept calling family and friends, who rushed to the hospital. They also kept knocking the door of the elevator repeatedly.

Doctors on duty in the building also engaged subordinate staff in efforts to open the doors but all efforts failed. The doors were later broken open by the hospital's technical team.

An official, who requested anonymity, said that if the elevator doors become locked, they can be opened with a key which is supposed to be at disposal to the technical team. An inquiry committee has been formed to probe the incident, while the company which had installed the elevators has also been asked to inspect the lifts. LUH is the largest public sector tertiary care teaching hospital in Hyderabad with a branch in Jamshoro, located in the premises of Liaquat University of Medical and Health Sciences (LUMHS).