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For some, simply stepping into an elevator brings on a wave of dread. What if it malfunctions or halts between floors? While we anxiously grip the railing inside the cramped space, others around us seem unaware of the hidden dangers.
We can't ignore the fear of elevators because there will always be those who mock the very idea. 'Nothing can go wrong,' they argue. But history proves otherwise. Elevators can plummet. Cables snap. People get caught between floors. Accidents do, in fact, happen.
10. Crushed to Death in Marshall Field’s
Marshall Field’s, an iconic department store in Chicago, Illinois, was established in 1852. Known for serving the upper class, the store acted swiftly to cover up a tragic elevator accident in 1917. Their efforts to keep the incident quiet failed, and the story eventually made it into the afternoon newspapers.
Four workers were cleaning the elevator pits in the store's basement. The elevators were meant to stay on the first floor during the maintenance. However, when someone shouted, 'All out of the pits,' one of the elevators unexpectedly started to descend into the basement.
Three of the workers managed to escape the pit in time, but one wasn’t so lucky. The elevator struck him and crushed his skull.
9. Fifteen Injured in Elevator Accident
In another tragic incident in 1902, a group of women at a department store became victims of a devastating elevator accident. Fifteen women crammed into the R.H. Macy and Company’s elevator, and while on the fifth floor, the cable snapped.
Onlookers waiting outside the elevator on the lower floors could hear the women screaming as the elevator plummeted. When it finally crashed into the cellar floor, there was a heavy silence as everyone held their breath, hoping against hope that some of them had survived.
Soon, groans and cries echoed from within. While many of the women suffered severe injuries, it was a miracle that none lost their lives in the fall.
8. Overcrowded Freight Elevator
Department stores loved impressing their customers with the novelty of elevators, but stepping into those cramped metal boxes was always a risky move for anyone daring enough.
In 1912, 40 people squeezed into the freight elevator of the Siegel, Cooper & Co. department store. The weight proved too much for the elevator, and the cable snapped. The overstuffed elevator plunged four stories before crashing into the pit below. Thankfully, only a dozen people were injured in the fall.
Similar to Marshall Field’s, Siegel, Cooper & Co. tried to conceal the accident, managing to keep it out of the news except for one local publication. The company made no effort to assist or compensate the victims, despite one woman suffering severe injuries that left her bedridden indefinitely.
7. The Cable Broke
After a long workday, everyone just wants to head home and unwind. In 1888, at the Bancroft Building in San Francisco, the workday had ended, and workers quickly piled into the elevator. Ten people squeezed into an elevator meant for only eight.
The elevator started its descent normally for the first few feet, but then a sharp snap was heard as the cable snapped. The elevator plummeted the next five stories, crashed through the first-floor lightweight flooring, and finally smashed into the basement.
The people trapped in the elevator were a bloody mess. The elevator boy had a broken back. One man suffered broken ribs and a fractured thigh. His lungs began to hemorrhage, and he ultimately did not survive. The others were left with broken bones and deep cuts.
6. At The Flour Mill
In 1902, an elevator malfunctioned at a flour mill in San Francisco. Five workers entered the freight elevator at the Del Monte mill on the basement floor, carrying a load of flour up to the third floor. After the elevator ascended 9 meters (30 ft), the cable snapped and the men plummeted down.
Onlookers rushed to the scene of the crash, where it appeared at first that none of the men had survived. But after the initial shock wore off, the men showed signs of life and were quickly rushed to the hospital.
5. A Temporary Elevator
In 1917, safety measures for construction workers were minimal. At a Bridgeman-Russell plant under construction in Minnesota, the workers had to rely on a temporary elevator to transport both themselves and building materials between the various floors.
On the ground floor, three workers loaded the elevator with materials and climbed aboard. As the elevator ascended toward the upper floors, the cable suddenly snapped. The men, along with the building materials, plummeted to the ground.
All three men sustained severe injuries. One man had broken ankles, while another suffered broken ribs. They were all rushed to the hospital for medical treatment.
4. Worker Crushed
In 1909, construction was underway to expand the Moline hospital in Illinois. Two workers climbed into the elevator with two large slabs of stone, but the load was far too heavy for the elevator’s engine. The engine malfunctioned, and the elevator plummeted to the ground floor.
One worker was crushed by the heavy stones, sustaining a neck injury and having his right-side ribs separated. He did not survive. The second worker’s injuries were not detailed, but he was reported to be in critical condition.
3. A Horrible Christmas Eve
We've all been in a rush to return to work after lunch, and Mrs. Grace Sawtell was no different. In 1954, she worked at the Euston Hotel in Sydney. After her lunch break, she took the elevator, but it got stuck between the first and second floors.
Mrs. Sawtell, the only person in the elevator, must have shouted and knocked on the door because two men came to her aid. They managed to open the elevator doors, but as she climbed out through the gap, the elevator suddenly dropped and she was crushed. It was Christmas Eve.
2. Head and Chest Crushed
By 1947, one would think people would be more cautious in elevators, but that was not the case. At the Menzies Hotel in Melbourne, two men and two women entered the service elevator from the basement. As the elevator ascended, one of the men tried to stop it on his floor. However, the elevator malfunctioned and overshot the floor.
Buttons were pressed, but the elevator no longer responded. In a state of panic, the men smashed the wooden panel on the door. Both men managed to exit and helped the first woman out of the elevator.
However, as they were helping the last woman through the opening, someone on the floor above pressed the elevator button. The woman's “head and chest were crushed between the lift floor and the walls of the shaft.” Sadly, she did not survive.
1. Wedged And Smooshed
This has to be one of the most horrific ways to meet your end. In 1906, a nurse entered the elevator in the nurses' home, and the elevator operator shut the gate. As the elevator started its ascent, a sudden ripping sound echoed.
The operator yanked on the rope in a desperate attempt to halt the elevator before the cable snapped, but an electrical malfunction caused it to fail. The deadly cage shot upwards and crashed violently into the structure at the top.
The elevator seemed to have stalled, and the operator managed to escape by crawling over the top. Another woman arrived to assist. Together, the two women tried to pull the nurse through the bars of the gate.
In a tragic turn of events, the cable snapped completely, sending the elevator plummeting downward with the nurse trapped “between the frame of the car and the shaft.” She was found lifeless at the bottom.
