Swiss tourist dies in bizarre Phuket hotel accident

[webfact]

Swiss tourist dies in bizarre Phuket hotel accident
Eakkapop Thongtub


The lift expert and police discuss how to get the dead man out of the lift shaft.

PHUKET: -- A 54-year-old Swiss man died at about 2:30 this morning (May 22) when he was trapped in the shaft of a malfunctioning elevator at the five-storey Baan Paradise Hotel in Patong.

The alarm was raised by a receptionist who told police later she had heard a loud thud from the lift and a voice calling for help.

She called other hotel staff who found that a flashing light indicated the lift was stuck at the third floor, but were unable to open the lift doors.

The Kusoldharm Rescue Service were called. They too could hear a voice calling faintly for help but the lift doors still resisted attempts to open them, so the rescuers called a lift mechanic.

When the doors were finally opened the Swiss man was found jammed, head-down, between the lift car and the wall of the lift shaft. He was already dead.

The dead man was jammed so tightly that rescue workers were unable to remove him. They winched the lift down in the hope that the body would come free, but it was only on the ground floor that they were finally able to extract the victim.

The body of the man, whose name has been withheld until his family have been informed, was taken to Patong hospital.

Hotel staff told police, “It was very hard to get the man’s body out because his head and body were tightly jammed [in the space between the car and the shaft wall]. He had almost no space to breathe.”

Police have come up with two theories as to what happened.

The first is that the victim, who was staying on the fourth floor, had taken the elevator down but it became stuck at the third floor. Possibly he managed to open the car doors but then fell into the gap between the car and the shaft wall.

The other possibility is that when the man called the elevator up to fourth floor, the car was already stuck on the third floor. But the doors opened anyway, he walked in and fell, becoming trapped.

They said that, whatever the reason, the gap the man became jammed in was so tight that he was unable to breathe.

They are currently gathering more information to establish just what happened.

The Swiss embassy has been notified of the death.

Source: http://www.thephuketnews.com/swiss-tourist-dies-in-bizarre-phuket-hotel-accident-52435.php


-- Phuket News 2015-05-22

[stevenl]

Awful way to die.

RIP.

[LivinginKata]

Horrible way to die ... RIP

[BKKSnowBird]

Poor guy. RIP.

[Argus Tuft]

Terrible, words failed me.

That is awful

Edited May 23, 2015 by Maestro
Removed troll part of the post.

[Travelman868]

Lifts do get stuck from time to time but they are all supposed to have an alarm. Reception girl says she heard cry for help but the article says nothing about alarm.

If I was in a lift that stopped I would press the alarm and even if the staff could not speak my language they would make themselves known.

[AhFarangJa]

A tragic accident ...

So sad, R.I.P. Sir.

[skildpadden]

Poor guy. Awful way to go.

[OOLEEBER]

30 years ago I remember hearing about a burglar dying jammed head down in a ventilation shaft that he'd used to gain access and steal stuff. They thought he took about 12 hours to die and it was only the smell that alerted the authorities. I remember thinking "Good. He deserved it". Not this Swiss guy. Could have been any of us after a late night. R.I.P.

[KarenBravo]

I'm shocked!

The police theories are actually within the bounds of possibility.

As soon as I read that they had two theories, I would have bet money that one of them was suicide.

[dirtycash]

what a terrible tragedy, all obviously to blame on the heath and safety of the thai managed hotel . what will be done about it ? absolutely zilch !!

RIP .

[bubblegum]

Poor guy, RIP what an awful way to go.

[ExPratt]

Terrible way to go as many have said ,Must have been a terrifying few minutes

The 2 possible reasons they give

1The first is that the victim, who was staying on the fourth floor, had taken the elevator down but it became stuck at the third floor. Possibly he managed to open the car doors but then fell into the gap between the car and the shaft wall.

2 The other possibility is that when the man called the elevator up to fourth floor, the car was already stuck on the third floor. But the doors opened anyway, he walked in and fell, becoming trapped.

I think one where the door opened without a lift there and he fell in,That could happen quite easily most people do not look to see if the lift is actually there before walking through the doors and in normal circumstances you shouldn't have to. If that's the case the lift company will be in deep , deep shit/

1 Suggests that he opened the inner doors himself, I cant see firstly why you would do that and secondly how do you end up upside down wedged solid between the lift and the shaft.there is also no mention of any alarm , if they had one Could well be wrong maybe bad translation and freak accidents are sometimes impossible to explain

RiP

Edited May 22, 2015 by ExPratt

[paddyjoe41]

Im sure the lift was in very bad repair,how would they leave a gap so big as to fit a body in?safety should be looked into,A bit late for the the poor guy,must have been an awful death rip.

[flyingdoc]

Terrible! R.I.P.

[user82374298374]

This is pretty much the only farang death in Thailand I've ever read about that I'm certain isn't a murder - it's just to convoluted to've been planned.

[lee b]

OMG ! this kind of thing makes me wonder is any mode of transport safe here? Even the kinds that just go up and down floors !!!

[ezzra]

Even a horror movie script couldn't come up with such scenario of dying.. horrible in deed....

[FredNL]

Great maintenance of the elevator. The elevators in our building were cleaned yesterday.

They could hold up to 8 persons but having more than 2 they stop working. And this has been already for 5 years. And every year they have new maintenance stickers. You know the ones you can buy at every hardware store in China Town.

Edited May 22, 2015 by FredNL

[stevenl]

Even a horror movie script couldn't come up with such scenario of dying.. horrible in deed....

Check out 'the lift', 1983, Dick Maas.

Edited May 22, 2015 by stevenl

[FredNL]

Even a horror movie script couldn't come up with such scenario of dying.. horrible in deed....

Check out 'the lift', 1983, Dick Maas.

Good (Dutch) movie. Luckely they don't have such "smart" elevators in L.O.S. (Land Of the Smart)

[norbra]

The theory about the doors opening while the lift car was not at that floor is nonsense,as the door opening machinery is mounted on the lift car,if the car is not at that floor the doors cannot open automatically.

The big gap can be found between the lift car floor and the landing doors ,if the inside/car doors are opened manually and the lift car is partway up a lower floor. Looking at the pic there are two landing doors that both open in the same direction so the outer door, nearest policeman, is further from the lift car floor therefore there is a gap maybe 200mm /8"

[maoro2013]

I've never seen a lift where you could fit your head between the lift and the floor unless of course he stuck his head out between floors??

[kkup]

RIP dude. Hope he didn't suffer too much.

[Brian Robson]

In Durban a guy got cut in two, when jumping into a moving faulty lift whose doors hadn't closed.

In Johannesburg I was using a lift to transport display material for a conference and used a chipboard to block the infra red detectors stopping the doors from closing. As I walked away there was a BANG and splintering of the board as the lift took off and jammed between floors trapping a security guard and ironically the building manager! Turned out the lifts had been serviced the day before and the safety interlocks were left switched off!

Edited May 22, 2015 by Brian Robson

[SamuiAxe]

Even a horror movie script couldn't come up with such scenario of dying.. horrible in deed....

Not true.. Look for the Dutch movie 'De Lift'.. About a possessed lift that goes killing people.. Actually a very good movie, especially for a Dutch movie, (I am allowed to say that, I'm Dutch )

On Topic: What a horrible death! The poor guy slowly suffocated... RIP poor sod..

[Traveller45]

Lifts do get stuck from time to time but they are all supposed to have an alarm. Reception girl says she heard cry for help but the article says nothing about alarm.

If I was in a lift that stopped I would press the alarm and even if the staff could not speak my language they would make themselves known.

Sure, if you were inside and able to touch the control panel. Read the post first, man.

Edited May 22, 2015 by Traveller45

[Lopchan]

Tragic, RIP.

[elgordo38]

This is pretty much the only farang death in Thailand I've ever read about that I'm certain isn't a murder - it's just to convoluted to've been planned.

WHAT ?!!!!!

so until now EVERY foreigner that's dies has been murdered ?

Are you for real ?

Hang onto to your hat Tonto and read the phrase again.

[Johnny S]

Congratulations TV posters, no murder accustions, no suicide speculations, not even a conspriacy theory; yet.

Only a lousy maintained elevator - if maintained at all ....