On June 8th, the first day of the college entrance examination in mainland China, a thrilling incident occurred near a high school exam center in Shenzhen. Four high school students encountered a malfunction while taking the elevator on their way to the exam and were trapped in the enclosed cabin for nearly an hour. The weather in Shenzhen that day was hot and stuffy, with no air conditioning in the elevator and poor ventilation, leading to discomfort in breathing for several students. Fortunately, the four of them arrived at the exam center just 15 minutes before the start of the exam.
According to a report by Nandu News, the incident happened around 7:40 in the morning. The four students were descending from the Hua Sheng Jun Hui Ming Ting community near the Shenzhen school exam center, getting ready to go to the exam venue. Shortly after the elevator started going down, abnormalities began to occur. “When we reached the first floor, the door wouldn’t open.” One of the students, S, recalled with lingering fear. He described the elevator stopping on the first floor but the door wouldn’t open, then it started shaking like “broken teeth” and slowly moved upward, finally stopping on the third floor.
Being trapped on the third floor where the elevator had no opening, the space inside the cabin was confined, with poor air circulation, exacerbated by the June heat intensifying the stuffiness. “It was very hot, there was no air conditioning in the elevator, I could hardly breathe any oxygen.” Another student, Xiao Yun, remembered. The elevator was not stationary but kept swaying up and down with a large amplitude, making rescue efforts more challenging and adding to the psychological pressure of those trapped inside.
Upon realizing they were trapped, the students and their parents immediately sought help through emergency call systems, property management phones, maintenance services, and reported the situation to the police and the school. However, due to communication issues with the property management and the delayed arrival of maintenance personnel, the rescue efforts were hindered.
The report mentioned that the elevator’s location made it impossible for direct rescue, so the firefighters had to wait for the maintenance workers to move the elevator to a floor where the door could be opened before carrying out the rescue operation. It wasn’t until around 8:30 in the morning that the trapped students were successfully rescued.
Following the rescue, accompanied by teachers and parents, the four students hurried to the exam center and managed to enter by 8:45, with only 15 minutes left before the official start of the exam at 9:00 in the morning. A parent mentioned that when their child was rescued, they were drenched in sweat all over.
The incident has raised concerns from the public regarding the maintenance of residential elevators and the emergency response capabilities of property management. Some parents questioned the slow response of the property management and maintenance units in emergency situations, pointing out flaws in the communication mechanism. Some of the students trapped admitted that even after the harrowing experience of nearly an hour, it took time to calm their emotions completely as they entered the exam hall.