Jurong West lift that plunged 4 storeys was involved in other incidents

The lift-related incident at Block 542, Jurong West Avenue 1 on Saturday, in which a woman's leg was fractured, is not the first involving the same lift, according to the Jurong-Clementi Town Council (JRTC) and residents there.

In response to The New Paper's queries, a JRTC spokesman said that in 2015, eight teenagers had to be rescued after they overloaded lift D, one of five at the block, which is meant to hold a maximum load of 270kg - roughly the weight of four adults.

The spokesman said: "They were trapped in the lift and were rescued by technicians. Maintenance contractors were called in to perform thorough checks to ensure that the lift was functioning properly."

Residents at the four-storey Block 542 said the lift has a history of jamming. Miss Nasuha Sukarri, 21, who has been living in the block almost all her life, said: "The lift jams quite often, I've heard of four incidents recently."

Another resident in her 60s, a retiree who declined to be named, said she remembered the incident in 2015.

"The boys were also in the wrong, they overloaded the lift and it is a small lift," said the resident, who lives on the fourth storey.

"It's still scary. I'm not strong enough to take the stairs but knowing the lift has problems makes me scared to take it."

JRTC said servicing for the lift is done monthly. Before the incident last Saturday, the last servicing was done on June 15. The lift was added during the Lift Upgrading Programme (LUP) in 2012.

The council "deeply regrets" the recent incident. The spokesman added that JRTC representatives have visited the injured woman and assured her and her family that JRTC will "offer all the support that they need during this difficult period".

According to previous reports, the Building and Construction Authority (BCA) said there had been only 10 reported lift incidents since 2013.

The affected lift will remain closed until the lift company has carried out its repairs.

When TNP visited the site yesterday afternoon, the lift was closed and technicians were seen carrying out checks and repairs.

Notices from BNF engineering informing residents that major repairs were being carried out were also seen. BNF could not be contacted for a response.

The JRTC spokesman added: "We are working with the lift company to carry out a thorough investigation into this latest incident. We will also check the other lifts of the same model in this block and the surrounding blocks."