Woman dies after being trapped by neck in China lift accident

A 24-year-old woman was killed in a lift mishap in the eastern Chinese city of Hangzhou on Thursday, a local newspaper reported.

The victim died at 10.30am as she walked out of the lift on the 16th floor of a residential building in the city, the capital of Zhejiang province. The lift suddenly moved upwards, trapping her by her neck, the Qianjiang Evening News reported.

She was retrieved by firemen at about 11am and rushed to a hospital, where doctors battled for about an hour to resuscitate her before she was pronounced dead.

A doctor at the hospital’s emergency ward said the woman showed no signs of life when she was brought in and died from severe trauma to her neck.

Residents of the building said the lift had malfunctioned before, including shaking and dropping suddenly. It underwent maintenance last year.

The apartment block, built in the 1990s, was sealed off from outsiders while police investigated the accident.