Woman suffers spine fracture in 5th lift accident in 8 months

SINGAPORE — For the fifth time in eight months, a lift of a Housing and Development Board block had malfunctioned, causing a woman to suffer a spine fracture after the lift she was in shot up and down erratically twice.

Madam Yeo Choon Tee, 59, said she was heading to pick up her granddaughter at about noon on Tuesday (June 7) when the lift’s doors at Block 150, Petir Road did not open at the ground floor. Instead, it shot up “faster than normal” to the 11th floor.

It then sped to the third floor and zoomed up again before coming to an abrupt stop between the 12th and 13th floors, throwing her to the floor.

“It felt like an earthquake when it abruptly stopped,” said Mdm Yeo on Wednesday, who was stuck for around 30 minutes before she was rescued.

Speaking in Mandarin, she added: “I grabbed tightly because I heard of recent stories of lift incidents. I was very afraid and I just grabbed the rails as tight as I could, but then the lift came to an abrupt stop and I fell.”

Mdm Yeo suffered a compression fracture to her lumbar vertebrae and was warded at Ng Teng Fong General Hospital overnight for observations. Doctors told her she would need six weeks to recover.

In response to TODAY’s queries, the Building and Construction Authority (BCA) says it has suspended the operation of the lift for further investigation and told Holland-Bukit Panjang Town Council to appoint an independent authorised examiner to inspect the lift, recommend rectification works and submit its findings.

BCA will also conduct its own independent investigation into the incident and carry out checks on other lifts in the vicinity. HBPTC said it will continue to offer assistance to Mdm Yeo.

Mdm Yeo’s daughter, who did not want to be named, expressed concern about the incident, noting that there are many elderly residents living in the block.

“It’s lucky my mom only hurt her back. What if it were younger children or a much older person?” she said.

“She was very traumatised because she was all alone in the lift and nobody passed by. Luckily my niece wasn’t with her.”

She added: “We are still quite shocked that this happened. The authorities should should carry out more maintenance on the lifts.”

After a string of high-profile lift accidents, the BCA announced in March that it was stepping up audit checks on lifts across the island, especially those in HDB blocks, ahead of legislative changes to be introduced later this year to beef up lift regulations and standards.

On Oct 9 last year, an elderly woman’s hand was severed by lift doors in a freak accident at Tah Ching Road. The 85-year-old also fell and broke her leg.

Three months later, a lift at Block 114, Edgefield Plains continued to move even though one of its car door panels was still open.

In Ang Mo Kio Street 31 in March this year, a domestic helper was trapped for 90 minutes after the lift she was in suddenly shot up 17 floors, causing her to fall and hit her back.

Just last month, an elderly man died after he fell backwards and hit his head on the ground when he reversed his mobility scooter out of a lift that had stopped about 15cm above the ground.