The cleaners inside the Parliament lift that dropped three floors this weekend thought they were going to die.
|||Cape Town - One of the women injured after free-falling in a lift at Parliament described hearing a loud bang before the elevator started filling with smoke.
The Labour Department and the national Public Works Department have launched an investigation into the incident.
Nomntu Mbukushe, 35, from Gugulethu was one of 10 contracted cleaners working in the Marks Building at Parliament when the lift they were in malfunctioned and dropped three floors on Friday evening.
The building, which is home to the offices of several opposition parties, was cordoned off until engineers certified the safety of the other lifts this weekend.
The group sustained various back, leg and knee injuries.
“We were going downstairs from our tea break at 8pm. We got in the lift on the third floor, pressed the button to go down and then I heard a big bang. It fell so quickly, we all fell on each other. Everyone was screaming,” Mbukushe said.
Mbukushe said their screams echoed in the tiny space as smoke started filtering in from the roof of the lift.
“We pressed the alarm button in the lift, but the two men who were in the lift managed to open a small gap in the doors for us to get out. We had to help the women with broken legs who couldn’t stand up. I was so scared, I thought we were going to burn to death in there. One of the ladies on the third floor heard the loud bang. She ran down the stairs and when she heard us scream she called for help,” she said.
The mother of three was recovering from knee injuries at Christiaan Barnard Memorial Hospital on Sunday with three others, including Siphokazi Ntotho, who underwent surgery for a fractured ankle.
The rest were discharged on Saturday.
“I struggled to sleep that night because I was so scared. We’ve used that lift so many times but nothing like this happened before. I never want to see a lift again,” Mbukushe said.
Labour Department spokesperson Musa Zondi said inspectors visited the site on Saturday to establish what led to the accident.
“We can’t speculate the cause at this point. Once the investigation is complete, it will be reported to labour minister Mildred Oliphant. As this also resulted in injuries while on duty, we are looking into issues in terms of compensation,” he said.
Parliamentary spokesperson Luzuko Jacobs said only the double lifts at the entrance of the Marks Building will be grounded while engineers conduct maintenance checks.
The staff lift is still operational, he said. - Cape Times