Sixteen people have been injured in a devastating lift accident at the Welcome Jomtien Hotel in Pattaya on Saturday. The group had entered the lift at the 18th floor before an unknown power failure resulted in the lift freefalling 10 floors before hitting the ground level.
At approximately 6:30pm on Saturday, Lieutenant Colonel Klitsakorn Thongin (Pattaya Police Deputy Superintendent) was notified of a lift accident at the Welcome Jomtien Hotel on Jomtien Beach Road.
A team of officers along with the Sawang Boriboon Foundation were immediately dispatched to the incident.
At the scene, on the ground floor of the Welcome Jomtien Hotel, officers managed to forcefully open the lift doors to free the trapped people. Upon opening the doors, 16 people were found inside, in varying states of injury or shock. Five were sent to the Pattaya Memorial Hospital, while the remaining 11 were transported to the Pattaya International Hospital.
Mr. Preecha Donphutsa, one of the injured revealed that the group had all been to a work seminar on the 18th floor of the hotel. He stated that they were returning to their rooms on the fourth floor when the lift inexplicably lost power and begun a freefall from the 10th floor before impacting with the ground level. In a state of shock he exclaimed, “it is very lucky no one was killed because of this accident.”
Investigations are continuing as to the cause of the accident, with lift specialists already contacted to assess why emergency brakes did not stop the lift from falling after the power failure.
