A recent test done by the Beijing Municipal Administration of Quality and Technology Supervision found that 94 percent of elevators it tested for safety failed. The agency tested 3,053 out of 196,000 elevators across the capital city.
The high rate of failure is explained by Zhang Dihua, director of Investigation and Procedure Affairs of the Beijing Special Equipment Inspection and Testing Center, to the lifts being old. Once an elevator reaches eight years of use, it is considered aging and prone to malfunction.
It explained horror stories of elevator passengers being stuck in elevators suddenly or surging up or down. It does not help that many elevator riders are too obsessed with their gadgets or the day ahead that they may not notice warning signs the lift could malfunction, reported Global Times.
The administration estimated about one-fourth, or 54,000 elevators in Beijing are aging. More than 50 percent of these old lifts are found in residential buildings.
Zhang advised elevator users to check the yearly safety check document posted inside the elevator to ensure a safe trip up or down several floors. He said if the lift does not have the safety certificate, it would be better for people to avoid using that particular unit.
He added that the elevator suddenly stopping is not a sign of malfunction but a protection mechanism. Zhang cautioned elevator users from forcing open the elevator door in such a situation or attempting to escape from the ceiling.
The desperation of Chinese when trapped inside elevators probably has something to do with a lot of anecdotes. However, it could become a real nightmare like what happened in March to a 43-year-old woman in Xi’an City who was trapped inside an elevator for more than one month and died of thirst.
According to Daily Mail, the maintenance workers were repairing a malfunctioning elevator in late January and shut off the power after they shouted to ask if anyone was inside the elevator. They were unaware there was a woman inside the unit which was stuck between the 10th and 11th floors.
Unfortunately, the maintenance workers left for the Lunar New Year holiday and returned only in March to discover the weeks-old corpse inside the elevator.
However, amid the horror stories of Beijing elevators, there are also a lot of high-tech lifts in modern buildings.