4 hurt as elevator plunges four floors; 2 critical

RAIPUR: Four members of a family were severely injured after an elevator fell from the fourth floor of a residential apartment in Bhilai city of Chhattisgarh on Friday evening. Two of them are in critical condition.

The accident took place in Vaishali Nagar locality. The family of six was visiting one of the residents in the apartment and boarded the elevator at 4pm. There was a sudden noise and the lift crashed over 60 feet to the ground. Parking lot staff witnessed the accident and rushed to the rescue. They took the four victims -- Gangaram Ahirwar, 69, Jhalki, 65, Dulai Bhandekar, 48, and Nitesh, 31 -- to hospital. All of them suffered fractures. The two kids miraculously escaped unhurt.

Police registered a case and began investigating the accident. From preliminary probe, police found that the building was partially constructed and there was no maintenance work on the elevator for a long time.

Residents staged a protest against the builder and have demanded action on him. The incident comes three days after a 15-year-old boy was crushed to death in the goods elevator of a private firm in Bilaspur.