Four people, including a patient and their relatives, were trapped in the administrative block elevator of Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH), with firefighters rescuing them after nearly an hour and a half on Tuesday.
At around 2:20pm, the elevator got stuck between the ground and first floors after a power outage.
One of the trapped individuals said that while descending from the third floor, the power suddenly went out, plunging the elevator into darkness. They used their mobile phone light and called the lift operator, who arrived after half an hour and opened the door.
However, since the elevator was suspended mid-floor, they were unable to exit, the individual added.
Lift operator Kabir said that upon arrival, he found that while the door could be opened, the elevator was stuck in such a way that the occupants could not be safely evacuated.
Firefighters later arrived, and once power was restored, the individuals were brought out, Kabir said.
Fire Service Senior Staff Officer (Media) Md Shajahan Sikder said they received a call at 3:03pm reporting that several people were trapped in an elevator in the old building of DMCH.
Regarding the incident, DMCH Sub-Assistant Engineer (Electrical) Abdus Samad Azad said: "The elevator stopped working due to a power supply disruption by the DPDC. Although the lift operator managed to open the door, the elevator was stuck between floors, preventing anyone from exiting. The fire service eventually rescued them, and no injuries were reported."