A potentially dangerous incident was narrowly avoided in Lucknow’s Gomti Nagar on Saturday evening when two students from a UPSC civil services coaching center were trapped in a lift for nearly 45 minutes. The mishap occurred as the students were descending to leave the center for their homes around 8 pm.
The ordeal began when the lift abruptly halted between floors while descending. Panic set in as the students, identified as Shobha Singh and her fellow aspirant, realized that the lift had stopped. Despite their desperate cries for help, no one immediately came to their aid.
In a bid to get help, Shobha Singh managed to contact her husband, Pawan Singh, who promptly rushed to the coaching Centre. He pleaded with the center’s officials to address the malfunction and rescue his wife and the other student. However, his pleas went unanswered.
In a dramatic turn of events, Pawan Singh recorded a video of the trapped students, which he shared on social media. The video quickly went viral, drawing widespread attention to the emergency. The swift circulation of the video prompted a response from the police.
Upon receiving the alert, the police arrived at the scene and, in coordination with the lift operator, worked to address the malfunction. Their intervention was successful, and both students were safely rescued from the lift.
The delay in the rescue operation was attributed to a lack of access. It was revealed that the security guard on duty did not have the master key needed to manually open the lift doors. This lack of preparation contributed to the prolonged entrapment of the students.
Further investigation by the police uncovered that a mouse had caused the lift malfunction. The rodent had become entangled in the metal rope, which led to a disruption in the lift’s power supply and caused it to stop between the floors.
The incident has raised serious concerns about the safety protocols and emergency response procedures at the coaching center. The need for proper maintenance of lift systems and adequate emergency measures has been highlighted. It is also a stark reminder of the importance of having accessible emergency keys and trained personnel to handle such situations effectively.
Following the incident, the coaching center has been urged to review and improve its safety measures to prevent similar occurrences in the future. The prompt actions of Pawan Singh, combined with the police intervention, ensured that a potential disaster was averted and that the students were returned to safety.