On the evening of December 26th, a tragic incident occurred in the Zijun Chang’an neighborhood of Yanta District, Xi’an City, Shaanxi Province. A man fell to his death from the 15th floor as a result of an elevator malfunction where the elevator doors opened but the car did not arrive. His body was only discovered the following morning.
According to a report by the “Huashang Bao Dafeng News” on December 27th, homeowners in the Zijun Chang’an neighborhood of Yanta District reported to the media about the elevator accident that took place in the D8 unit building of the south section of Zijun Chang’an.
Several homeowners from the building mentioned that on the evening of the 26th, a man intended to take the elevator to go downstairs from the middle floors of the building. However, when the elevator doors opened, the car did not arrive as expected on that floor.
“He probably didn’t notice and stepped in, falling from the floor above, and his body was only found this morning (27th),” one homeowner said. “The body was removed from the elevator shaft this morning and placed in the corridor. Police arrived around noon to take him away.”
On December 28th, the “Today Yanta” WeChat account reported that around 10:50 a.m. on the 27th, a fatal incident occurred in an elevator shaft in Zijun Chang’an Community in Changyanbao Street. The local authorities have set up an investigation team to conduct inquiries and have directed the property management to immediately halt the operation of the elevators in the building where the incident occurred and conduct a comprehensive safety inspection of all elevators in the neighborhood.
Ms. Chen, a homeowner in the D8 unit building, told “Huashang Bao Dafeng News” that the building was delivered in 2013 and the elevators have not been replaced since then. In recent years, the elevator failure rate has been very high, causing concern among the homeowners.
“Just last Tuesday (December 16), our elevator was just serviced, and we never expected something like this to happen so soon. We are all heartbroken,” said Ms. Chen. She mentioned that elevator malfunctions have been frequent in multiple buildings in the neighborhood, and homeowners have repeatedly requested the property management to replace the elevators, but these requests have not been successful. The maintenance company had previously recommended replacing key components of the elevators, but there was no follow-up.
A homeowner in the D7 unit building recalled an incident a few months back when the elevator experienced an abnormal descent from the 32nd floor to the 25th floor, terrifying the passengers inside, though luckily, no one was injured.
According to Jimo News, a resident in Zijun Chang’an Community stated that this is not the first time elevator incidents have occurred in the neighborhood, and previous complaints have not been resolved. Just a few days ago, a child was trapped in the elevator due to a sudden acceleration.
Various parties have been evasive in their responses to the incident. When questioned by reporters, Guoyuan Property management declined to comment, stating they are waiting for the investigation results. The staff at the Shaanxi branch of Jiangsu Hailing Mechanical and Electrical Equipment Engineering Co., Ltd. mentioned that the relevant technical departments will investigate and report on the incident, but did not provide details about the prior maintenance of the faulty elevator.
Subsequently, when the reporter visited the Zijun Chang’an Community in Changyanbao Street of Yanta District, several homeowners expressed concerns about elevator safety to the community but did not receive satisfactory responses. Community staff claimed to be unaware of the details surrounding the accident when asked by the reporter.