The prospect of riding an elevator, let alone being stuck on one, is enough to make the claustrophobic among us squirm. But in China, a woman appears to have met the worst imaginable fate for those who fear confined spaces, apparently starving to death during a month stranded on an elevator by allegedly negligent workers.
The Associated Press and many other outlets reported that the corpse of a 43-year-old woman was found in an elevator in an apartment building in Xi’an, a city of more than 8 million people about 700 miles southeast of Beijing. Authorities identified her only by her surname, Wu, according to the Los Angeles Times; her hands were reportedly mangled by her attempts to escape the elevator.
“The scene was inhumane,” one tenant of the building said, according to news reports cited by ShanghaiList. “We think she starved to death in there.”
Power to the elevator was cut on Jan. 30 when a problem with it was reported. Workers, however, did not return until March 1, when they found the corpse. The Gaoling district government has now detained the maintenance crew; police said their gross negligence resulted in involuntarily manslaughter. The AP reported that the workers cut the power without checking if anyone was inside, but the L.A. Times noted that workers had “shouted” to see if anyone was inside without looking themselves.
“The paramedics told us that when they found the body, her hand had already begun to deform,” another resident told ShanghaiList of the woman, who reportedly lived alone. “There were markings all over the inside of the elevator, it’s just too horrible.”
China has seen a number of gruesome elevator and escalator deaths in recent months. The AP noted the nation “has poor records on workplace safety where proper safety procedures and practices are routinely ignored.”
Culled from www.washingtonpost.com
The Associated Press and many other outlets reported that the corpse of a 43-year-old woman was found in an elevator in an apartment building in Xi’an, a city of more than 8 million people about 700 miles southeast of Beijing. Authorities identified her only by her surname, Wu, according to the Los Angeles Times; her hands were reportedly mangled by her attempts to escape the elevator.
“The scene was inhumane,” one tenant of the building said, according to news reports cited by ShanghaiList. “We think she starved to death in there.”
Power to the elevator was cut on Jan. 30 when a problem with it was reported. Workers, however, did not return until March 1, when they found the corpse. The Gaoling district government has now detained the maintenance crew; police said their gross negligence resulted in involuntarily manslaughter. The AP reported that the workers cut the power without checking if anyone was inside, but the L.A. Times noted that workers had “shouted” to see if anyone was inside without looking themselves.
“The paramedics told us that when they found the body, her hand had already begun to deform,” another resident told ShanghaiList of the woman, who reportedly lived alone. “There were markings all over the inside of the elevator, it’s just too horrible.”
China has seen a number of gruesome elevator and escalator deaths in recent months. The AP noted the nation “has poor records on workplace safety where proper safety procedures and practices are routinely ignored.”
Culled from www.washingtonpost.com
No comments:
Post a Comment