Lifts at People's Park Complex break down, 15 people trapped over half hour

Three lifts at People’s Park Complex broke down for more than three hours Last Tuesday (Mar 7) at around 9am, affecting over 200 households and trapping 15 people inside for over half an hour.

A woman even cried after getting trapped, reports Shin Min Daily via Lianhe Zaobao

A 63-year-old resident told reporters that the three lifts in the condominium had broken down for reasons unknown:

“I heard that around 15 people were trapped inside one of the lifts, and were safely extracted after half an hour.

“I saw a woman crying as she walked out of the lift.”

The resident also reveals that one of the lifts only resumed operations at around 1pm, three hours after it first broke down.

The condominium is 31-storeys tall, and reporters who visited the complex on Tuesday (Mar 7) observed that many of the residents were senior citizens, unable to climb the stairs to their units and had to wait by the side for reparation works on the lifts to be completed.

A female resident also said that among the three lifts, one had been under maintenance for at least two months . 

She could not understand the reason behind the long downtime, and upon inspection, discovered a notice by the Building & Construction Authority (BCA) which indicated that said lift should cease operation in December. 

On Tuesday (Mar 7) night, among the three lifts, only one was in operation and a 60-year-old resident begrudgingly told reporters that by around 9pm, around 50 to 60 people had to queue up and wait for their turn to board the sole lift.

She claimed at that one point, the snaking queue, approximately a 100 metres long, even reached a fast food restaurant outside the complex. 

The condominium's management said that they had immediately dispatched technicians to repair the lifts the moment they were notified that the lifts had broken down, to ensure that the lifts resumed operations in the shortest time possible.

The trapped victims were also rescued swiftly. 

They also added that there were technicians on 24-hour standby duties, but due to the advanced age of the lifts, instances of break down have increased steadily. 

Watch a video on the story below.