HARARE – An elevator at Chaminuka Building, the home of the notorious Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO), crashed from the fourth floor to the basement injuring three people on Wednesday, Nehanda Radio can exclusively reveal.
Sources at the Chaminuka building said the elevator which had three people developed a fault and lost control in the afternoon.
“Three people were inside and when it reached the fourth floor it just started rolling down without control and eventually crashed into the basement,” said the source.
“The three were injured, with one seriously injured and has been rushed to a local hospital.”
The collapse of the elevator comes at a time when the country is experiencing a serious liquidity crunch resulting in many companies closing shop.
Sources said elevators have not been serviced for a long time although there are plans to install new ones.
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.
