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Nqobile Tshili Chronicle Correspondent
A WOMAN is lucky to be alive after she plunged about 10 metres down an elevator shaft at the Barclays Bank main branch along Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo Street in Bulawayo.

The woman, aged 20 who could not be identified, is said to have opened the elevator door and stepped in without checking if the lift was on her floor.

Unfortunately, said a witness, the lift was a floor down and she hurtled screaming and arms flailing down the shaft.

The accident happened at about 5PM on Tuesday.

The city’s emergency services including the Fire and Ambulance Department and Mars Ambulance Services rushed to the scene amid reports — which later proved false — that the woman was dead.

For about 20 minutes, the woman was trapped in total darkness.

A crowd, drawn by wailing sirens, gathered outside the bank.

They gave the rescue team a heroes’ welcome when it finally wheeled the woman out of the building on a stretcher.

The victim, who seemed to be disoriented and in great pain, kept repeating: “kubuhlungu, kubuhlungu, ingilimazile (It’s painful, I’m hurt).

Bulawayo chief fire officer Richard Peterson said the woman was lucky not to have been crushed by the lift.

“She was coming from visiting her aunt who works on the second floor. After she was done with her business, she entered an elevator not realising that the elevator’s car wasn’t there,” said Peterson. “She fell from the second floor to the first floor where the lift was stationed. I understand she was badly injured and was rushed to the United Bulawayo Hospitals.”

He said rescuers from his department climbed down the shaft to rescue her.

Peterson urged companies to ensure that their lifts were safe and in perfect working condition.

“She fell from the second floor to the top of the lift’s car which was on the first floor. She was lucky because this wasn’t a high rise building,” he said.

“Companies should service their lifts regularly. Normally, an elevator’s door shouldn’t open when its car isn’t on a certain floor. Can you imagine what would’ve happened if she had fallen from a building with 12 floors”.

Barclays bank’s Corporation Affairs manager Emily Nemapare said the company was investigating the incident.

“Barclays can confirm that there has been an incident with a member of the public at our Joshua MN Nkomo Branch.

“Investigations are underway and engagement with relevant stakeholders is ongoing,” said Nemapare.

A city resident, Qondile Mafu, said elevators in Bulawayo had become death traps.

“We can’t continue having such incidents. Remember two people were killed in an elevator months back. Companies should take serious precautions. Some of us are no longer using elevators because of these problems,” said Mafu.

Last week, eight people were trapped in an elevator at the National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ) headquarters. Luckily no one was injured.

However, two people plunged to their deaths in the same elevator two months ago when it crashed to the basement.