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10 trapped in lift of south Delhi nightclub, rescued after 6 hours
The police learned of the incident when photographs and some details of the rescue operation were shared on social media on Sunday morning
At least 10 people leaving a nightclub in South Extension were trapped, first on an elevator then an empty space meant for shops, before the fire department rescued them roughly six hours later on Sunday morning.
According to officials, the group left Code club on the third floor of a building in the South Extension market around 12.30am, and was eventually rescued a little after 6.40am when fire personnel broke the reinforced glass façade on the front of the building to reach the locked floor.
Delhi Fire Services director Atul Garg said it was at 5.42am on Sunday when the fire control room received a call from the nightclub’s management, which said 10 people were stuck.
“We rushed our team that rescued the guests. The rescue team members broke a glass on the floor and placed a ladder through which the guests climbed down,” said Garg, adding that those trapped inside looked distressed and scared.
The police and the manager of the nightclub said the lift was managed by the club and its annual maintenance contract was with a private company. The police learned of the incident when photographs and some details of the rescue operation were shared on social media on Sunday morning.
“It is informed that no such police control room (PCR) call or information in any manner was received at Kotla Mubarakpur police station,” said deputy commissioner of police (south) Chandan Chowdhary regarding the incident.
DCP Chowdhary said that Surender Singh, the club’s owner, and his son Sahil informed them that around eight to nine people were stuck in the lift around 12.45am. Among the group were three or four women, according to the officer.
Code Club’s manager Shivam, who goes by only one name, told HT that there were no violations on the club’s part and that they had closed at the scheduled time.
The guests accidentally stopped on the first floor instead of going straight to ground. “Some of the guests tried to open the lift’s door manually after they realised that they were on the wrong floor and tried returning to the lift. This caused the door’s motor to malfunction and the guests got trapped inside,” said Shivam.
The group was trapped for an unknown number of hours, estimated to be three-to-four, inside the lift before those inside managed to pry it open.
It was then that the group found itself stranded at the locked floor.
The DCP said the first floor is owned by someone else and was locked at that time. “After trying to open the lift door themselves, those trapped inside later called the lift maintenance firm. They also tried to contact the first-floor owner to get it opened but could not succeed,” said DCP Chowdhary.
She added that when efforts failed, at around 5.40am, one of the people called DFS, which broke open a glass panel on the front of the building in an hour-long operation and placed a ladder through which the stranded people came down.
“The information is further being verified and legal action will be taken accordingly. In case of any foul place necessary legal action will be taken,” added Chowdhary.
Shivam said, “The police were not informed because we felt that we needed the fire department’s help in rescuing the people”.
