Friday, Nov 02, 2012
KANAZAWA, Japan - A 63-year-old woman died Wednesday after getting caught between the floor of a moving elevator and the top of its door at a hotel where she was working in Kanazawa, police said.
The elevator reportedly went up after the woman stumbled and fell partway into the elevator, causing her fatal injuries, the police said.
The prefectural police on Thursday started an on-site investigation at the hotel - Apa Hotel Kanazawa Ekimae - and were questioning its officials over possible professional negligence resulting in death.
The police also started searches the same day at the Chubu branch of the elevator manufacturer, Schindler Elevator K.K., in Nagoya, as well as an elevator maintenance firm in Kanazawa.
According to police, Toshiko Maeda, a part-time cleaner dispatched to the hotel by a cleaning company in Kanazawa, was about to enter the elevator used exclusively for employees on the fourth floor at about 2.55pm Wednesday.
The elevator car started going up after she stumbled and fell partway inside. She became caught between the upper part of the opening and the car.
Maeda was on her way to an employees' locker room in the first basement to get ready to return home after finishing her work with a colleague, 63.
A joint investigation by the land ministry, the Ishikawa prefectural government and the Kanazawa municipal government also conducted searches at the hotel on Thursday.
The elevator has a capacity of 17 passengers or a maximum weight of 1,150 kilograms, but is not equipped with a safety device to prevent the elevator from moving while the door is open.
An elevator made by the firm caused a similar incident in 2006, in which a 16-year-old high school boy was killed in Minato Ward, Tokyo.
After the 2006 incident, all elevators that were to be newly installed after Sept. 28, 2009, are required to have double safety devices to prevent the elevator from going up or down when the door is open. However, as this elevator was installed in March 1998, it was not subject to the stricter regulations.
The Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Ministry this fiscal year started promoting the double safety devices for exempted elevators by subsidizing one-third of the cost after a proposal from experts including university professors at its development of social infrastructure council.
According to the Kanazawa municipal government, the city issued an inspection certificate for the elevator in March 1998. After that, Schindler Elevator conducted annual inspections and the hotel submitted the results to the city government. No problems were reportedly detected in the checkup in February this year.
A spokesman of Schindler Elevator said the elevator meets safety standards. The firm said it was not aware of what caused the accident.
According to the firm, there are 80 elevators of the same model in Japan. It plans to conduct emergency inspections of all of its about 8,000 elevators in the nation from Thursday.
The Consumer Accident Investigation Commission on Thursday dispatched one officer to Kanazawa to investigate the incident and collect information with the aim of preventing similar accidents.
KANAZAWA, Japan - A 63-year-old woman died Wednesday after getting caught between the floor of a moving elevator and the top of its door at a hotel where she was working in Kanazawa, police said.
The elevator reportedly went up after the woman stumbled and fell partway into the elevator, causing her fatal injuries, the police said.
The prefectural police on Thursday started an on-site investigation at the hotel - Apa Hotel Kanazawa Ekimae - and were questioning its officials over possible professional negligence resulting in death.
The police also started searches the same day at the Chubu branch of the elevator manufacturer, Schindler Elevator K.K., in Nagoya, as well as an elevator maintenance firm in Kanazawa.
According to police, Toshiko Maeda, a part-time cleaner dispatched to the hotel by a cleaning company in Kanazawa, was about to enter the elevator used exclusively for employees on the fourth floor at about 2.55pm Wednesday.
The elevator car started going up after she stumbled and fell partway inside. She became caught between the upper part of the opening and the car.
Maeda was on her way to an employees' locker room in the first basement to get ready to return home after finishing her work with a colleague, 63.
A joint investigation by the land ministry, the Ishikawa prefectural government and the Kanazawa municipal government also conducted searches at the hotel on Thursday.
The elevator has a capacity of 17 passengers or a maximum weight of 1,150 kilograms, but is not equipped with a safety device to prevent the elevator from moving while the door is open.
An elevator made by the firm caused a similar incident in 2006, in which a 16-year-old high school boy was killed in Minato Ward, Tokyo.
After the 2006 incident, all elevators that were to be newly installed after Sept. 28, 2009, are required to have double safety devices to prevent the elevator from going up or down when the door is open. However, as this elevator was installed in March 1998, it was not subject to the stricter regulations.
The Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Ministry this fiscal year started promoting the double safety devices for exempted elevators by subsidizing one-third of the cost after a proposal from experts including university professors at its development of social infrastructure council.
According to the Kanazawa municipal government, the city issued an inspection certificate for the elevator in March 1998. After that, Schindler Elevator conducted annual inspections and the hotel submitted the results to the city government. No problems were reportedly detected in the checkup in February this year.
A spokesman of Schindler Elevator said the elevator meets safety standards. The firm said it was not aware of what caused the accident.
According to the firm, there are 80 elevators of the same model in Japan. It plans to conduct emergency inspections of all of its about 8,000 elevators in the nation from Thursday.
The Consumer Accident Investigation Commission on Thursday dispatched one officer to Kanazawa to investigate the incident and collect information with the aim of preventing similar accidents.
