Another child dies in home elevator accident, days after regulators pushed for recall

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Business

Another child dies in home elevator accident, days after regulators pushed for recall



If the elevator moves to another floor, a child, unable to escape, could be seriously injured or killed. (Aaron Steckelberg/The Washington Post)

By Todd C. Frankel
July 14, 2021 | Updated today at 9:01 a.m. EDT

A 7-year-old boy was killed in a home elevator accident at a beach rental home in North Carolina’s Outer Banks, three days after federal regulators pushed another major elevator manufacturer to fix a similar problem.

The boy was discovered Saturday night trapped between the bottom of the elevator car and the home’s upper door frame, according to Rich Shortway, fire chief in Corolla, N.C. The boy’s neck was crushed after he appeared to have gotten caught between the moving elevator’s inner accordion door and an outer door.

The boy’s family, visiting the beach from Canton, Ohio, had arrived earlier that day to begin a vacation, Shortway said. ... “It’s just such a terrible tragedy,” he said.

Investigators said they were still working to understand what happened. But it appeared to fit a pattern of children being crushed by residential elevators after they get trapped in the space — just a few inches — between the two elevator doors. One door moves with the elevator car. The other sits on the floor landing. Both doors lock closed when the elevator moves.

The elevator industry has known about this particular safety hazard for decades. It also has known about a simple way to prevent it: a $100 plastic or foam insert to block the gap.

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By Todd Frankel
Todd C. Frankel is an enterprise reporter on The Washington Post's Financial desk. He joined The Washington Post in 2014 and previously worked as a reporter at newspapers in St. Louis; Everett, Wash.; and Charleston, W.Va. Twitter https://twitter.com/tcfrankel

[kcr]

1. This is a perfect example of just how toothless US regulation has become

All it would have taken is a simple, inexpensive fix, and no one forced them to do it.

[appalachiablue]

2. K/R

[hardluck]

3. Once had a case in Texas

Where the hospital elevator door trapped a doctor’s head and he was killed. Nurse inside the elevator saw the whole thing. Nasty business.

[Maru Kitteh]

4. Jesus. That's horrifying. nt