61-year-old falls into hotel’s elevator duct, dies

A 61-year-old petrol pump owner from Madhya Pradesh died after falling into the duct of an elevator in a south Mumbai hotel on Friday afternoon, reports HT Correspondent.

A 61-year-old petrol pump owner from Madhya Pradesh died after falling into the duct of an elevator in a south Mumbai hotel on Friday afternoon.

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Uma Shankar Sharma and his friend, Manohar Sharma (57), had gone to Sea Lords Hotel on P D’mello road to look for accommodation. Sharma had come to Mumbai to get his friend, Hira Jaiswal, treated for joint pains. Sharma had asked Manohar, a businessman from Nagpur, to help him.

Senior Police Inspector Sanjeev Kokil of MRA Marg police station said that Jaiswal, who suffers from a disability waited in a taxi outside the hotel, while Sharma and Manohar went in to have a look at the rooms.

The hotel staff took the duo to room number 310 on the third floor. “They saw the room and walked towards the elevator to go down. Sharma opened the gate of the elevator thinking it had arrived,” Kokil said. “But there was a technical failure and when Sharma stepped in, he fell down the duct.”

The police said a Sharma fell on his face and suffered severe injuries all over his body. The hotel staff rushed him to Bombay hospital. He was treated at the hospital’s intensive care unit, but he succumbed to his injuries.

The police, who were informed about the incident by the hospital authorities, have lodged a case of death due to negligence against the owner, manager, and maintenance contractor of the elevator. When Hindustan Times contacted the hotel for a comment, a staff member requested this correspondent not to do the story because it would “spoil the image” of their hotel.

Officials investigating the case said every aspect of negligence will be probed.