Two people are dead and four have been seriously injured after a lift plummeted more than 15 metres at an elderly care home.
Around 8.30pm on 14 October, emergency services were contacted after the terrifying incident at the 200-bed Séniors care home in Vélez-Málaga in Spain.
An elevator carrying six elderly people fell 50ft (15.24m) from the second floor to the basement.
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Local media reported that all occupants of the lift were rescued alive before they were taken to hospital.
An 82-year-old woman died soon after and a 91-year-old man died in the early hours of the following morning.
Four survivors of the horrific incident, aged between 68 and 91, suffered leg and arm fractures, as well as “severe trauma”.
Those four residents of the publicly-funded residential care home remain in intensive care.
An investigation has been launched to identify what caused the lift to fail.
Sur reported that investigators were inspecting the lift mechanism, brake safety catches, and winch cables.
It is unclear if the crash was caused by a mechanical issue or a lack of maintenance.
The daughter of the woman who died told Todo Alicante said she was contacted around 10pm about her mother’s hospitalisation.
Teresa Carrión had died by the time Carmen Navas and her two sisters arrived.
“This is negligence, and if it isn’t, you tell me,” she said through tears.
“Workers tended to avoid using the lifts. And why was that? Someone needs to explain it to me.”
Ms Navas said her family were demanding answers and claimed there had been previous complaints about the lift.
Her mother was a wheelchair user and depended on lifts to navigate the building.
Ms Navas said they were ‘happy’ with the treatment their mother received at the home over the past three years.
Her mother will be buried following the completion of a post-mortem examination.
The other occupants at the time of the incident have not been identified.
Todo Alicante wrote that the lift was refurbished in 2023 and had an occupancy of 15 people.
