"More than 10 People Trapped in Elevator with Corpse" Bereaved Family in Fear for Dozens of Minutes

Elevator Stops While Moving Corpse... Bereaved Family "Will File Lawsuit"
Hospital "Elevator Company Responsible" VS Company "Passenger Negligence"

Elevator accident. The photo is not directly related to the article content.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bong-ju] An accident occurred in which bereaved family members transporting a corpse to a funeral hall at a large general hospital were trapped in an elevator for several tens of minutes.

According to a general hospital in Seoul and the bereaved families on the 28th, the hospital's main building elevator stopped operating around 10:30 p.m. on the 7th.

As a result of this accident, one corpse, 10 bereaved family members, and one funeral director were trapped in the elevator for 35 minutes.

Since then, the bereaved families have been complaining of psychological damage, but both the hospital and the elevator company are avoiding responsibility.

At the time, due to insufficient space, four of the bereaved family members said they would take the next elevator, but the outsourced funeral director who had worked at the hospital for 15 years persuaded everyone to board, saying "It's okay." The elevator's capacity limit was 24 people and 1.6 tons.

When the elevator stopped and did not move for several minutes, the bereaved families requested help via the intercom, but receiving no response, they eventually called 119. They were rescued from the elevator around 11:05 p.m. with the help of fire rescue personnel.

The bereaved families felt fear at being trapped with the corpse, and one family member suffering from heart disease reportedly experienced breathing difficulties.

The bereaved families are still suffering from claustrophobia and breathing difficulties when using elevators, expressing their mental distress.

They demanded psychiatric treatment and other measures, stating that the hospital is responsible for the accident.

However, the hospital stated that maintenance, repair, accident responsibility, and compensation for the elevator are the company's responsibility. They also said that after receiving the intercom call following the accident, the company staff took measures such as manually lowering the elevator.

The company claimed the accident was due to passenger negligence. The company explained, "With the corpse transport stretcher on one side and 11 people crowded on the other side, the balance was not maintained, so the elevator stopped for safety reasons. The elevator was operating normally."

The bereaved families strongly opposed, saying, "Even though the accident occurred during the process of visiting the hospital for medical treatment and funeral services, both the hospital and the elevator company are ignoring it." The bereaved families plan to file a lawsuit against the company.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.