Elderly cleaner falls down lift shaft
An elderly cleaner fell four metres down a lift shaft at a condo near Somerset MRT station yesterday afternoon.
The man, who is in his 70s, fell one storey down the service lift and landed next to a large rubbish bin at the One Devonshire condominium.
The lift consists of a open-walled metal platform and is used to move rubbish bins from the basement to the ground floor, where it is collected by garbage trucks.
Rescuers from the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) found the man, conscious and sitting on the platform when they arrived.
The rescuers opened the lift doors from the basement and carried him out on a stretcher.
The man was secured onto a spinal board and taken to the Singapore General Hospital.
The New Paper understands that the man, known as Mr Roslan, suffered serious injuries.
Said the SCDF spokesman: "The rescue took around 30 minutes because SCDF had to work meticulously to minimise his movement and injuries."
SURPRISED
SCDF said it received a call for an ambulance at around 2pm. It sent two fire engines, a fire bike, an ambulance and a support vehicle to the scene.
A security guard who works at a neighbouring condominium said he was surprised to see several emergency vehicles pull up next to the rubbish collection bay.
Said the guard: "I heard that someone had fallen in, but was not sure what happened exactly. They (SCDF) came and left quite quickly. There were very few witnesses around too, around six people who stayed to look for a while before leaving."
He added that the service lift is only accessible from a quiet street and residents of the condominium do not use it.
When contacted, the building management said it would not be able to provide any details as a police investigation was underway.
Said the deputy managing director of Knight Frank Estate Management, Ms Eleana Teo: "We are concerned over the injuries sustained by Mr Roslan. The cause of the accident has yet to be ascertained. We will take the necessary course of action, if any, after the cause has been ascertained."
She added that Mr Roslan was employed by the condo's cleaning contractor.
I heard that someone had fallen in, but was not sure what happened exactly.
- A guard at a nearby condo on hearing about the accident.
Various concessions are already in place to benefit upgraders. The existing concessions are reasonable and sufficient. Any move to relax the cooling measures, including broadening these concessions, is premature under market conditions.
- National Development Minister Khaw Boon Wan, responding to a call in Parliament to relax some of the property market cooling measures in order to benefit upgraders.
OTHER CASES
JULY 25, 2013
A Filipino doctor fell four stories down a lift shaft meant for goods and luggage at a Jalan Besar hostel.
The incident happened at around 2am, when she left her room on the fifth storey to use the toilet, which was adjacent to the lift shaft. Mistaking the lift door for the toilet, she opened it and plunged into the darkness, landing on the roof of the lift parked at the first storey.
She was stranded for four hours before her mother heard her cries for help while making her own trip to the toilet at around 5am.
The woman suffered four fractured ribs and broken bones in her left foot, as well as lacerations to her feet, head and mouth.
JAN 8, 2011
A lift technician fell two floors to his death while carrying out scheduled maintenance works at Tanjong Katong Complex.
Shopkeepers and workers at the building said rescuers had to use a ladder and ropes to extract him.
DEC 8, 2007
A 22-year-old man died after falling 10 storeys down a lift shaft at Block 104, Gangsa Road, near Bukit Panjang.
He was working as a welder in the upgrading project there, and was believed to have been installing some fencing around the lift entrance in a cordoned-off area about 2 metres from the lift shaft opening.
AUG 7, 2007
A worker plunged 13 storeys to his death down a lift shaft during demolition works at Ocean Building along Collyer Quay.
He had been in the lift shaft with his supervisor and another colleague when the ropes started raining down on them, entangling his colleague.
His supervisor was able to cut off the ropes wrapped around his colleague, but there was no sign of him when they called out to him after they got to safety.
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