Two die in NRZ building after elevator plunges 8 floors down

BULAWAYO – Two people have died after an elevator at the 23-floor National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ) building in Bulawayo developed a fault and broke loose, plunging eight floors down.

According to a report by the weekly Standard newspaper, an NRZ accountant identified as Elizabeth Mlangeni, got stuck on the eighth floor on Friday afternoon after working hours. She then called for help and a technician from the elevator company identified as Masina was dispatched to the scene.

When he arrived Masina gained access to the lift “but on trying to release it, lost grip and fell to the basement of the building,” the report said. It was only after Mlangeni failed to go back home from work that the alarm was raised.

Chief police spokesperson, senior assistant commissioner Charity Charamba confirmed the incident saying the accident happened on Friday, but was only discovered on Saturday. The Fire brigade and the police attended to the scene at the 23-floor NRZ building, which is the tallest in Bulawayo.

In March this year Nehanda Radio reported how one person died, while another sustained serious injuries, when an elevator they were decommissioning at Chaminuka Building in Harare developed a fault and plunged from the 6th floor to the ground floor.

Chaminuka Building is the home of Zimbabwe’s notorious Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO).

A Chinese firm, New View, was contracted to replace four elevators at the building by the Ministry of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing under controversial circumstances, amid reports that the company did not have capacity to do the job.

New View director Xuecheng Sao confirmed the death of one of his workers.

“We’re doing four elevators at Chaminuka and two which we started are now working and the other two were not working,” he said.

“We were now decommissioning the other two and the chain block holding the car failed and there were three people inside. One came out through the fourth floor and two landed on the ground floor. We rushed them to Parirenyatwa Hospital, but one died.”

Xuecheng said the other worker who landed on the ground floor survived after sustaining injuries on the ribs. He said he had assisted the family of the deceased with transport and a coffin.

The elevator industry in Zimbabwe is dominated by three major players, Schindler, Eleco and Clovgate.

Since the economy took a nose-dive in 2008 the lives of thousands of Zimbabweans who use elevators have always been at risk because most of them have become death traps.

Elevators in most government offices have old hoist ropes and non-functional door sensors and metals bump into each other when doors close.

In 2010 a member of the public fell into an elevator pit during maintenance work and died.

In 1999 construction workers including a father and son lost their lives after an elevator malfunctioned and fell from the 15th floor during the construction of the Cabs Millenium Towers Building in Harare.