24일 파타야에서 있었던 일입니다.

좀티엔 비치에 있는 웰컴 좀티엔 호텔(1박에 1천밧 정도하는 호텔) 18층에서 워크샵을 마치고 4층에 있는 숙소로 돌아가기 위해 16명이 엘리베이터에 탑승을 했습니다.

그런데, 10층 부근에서 정전이 발생하면서 갑자기 엘리베이터가 1층까지 추락했다고 합니다. 긴급 출동한 경찰들이 문을 강제로 열고 부상자들을 구출했는데, 10층 높이에서 떨어졌음에도 불구하고 사망한 사람은 없다고 하네요.

그래서, 기사 제목도 'Lucky Escape as Lift Plunges 10 Floors at Pattaya Hotel'입니다. 불행 중 다행이니 이것도 Lucky라고 해야 하는 건지...

정전시 동작하게 되어 있는 비상 브레이크가 작동 안 한 이유는 전문가들이 조사 중이라고 합니다.




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.

Pattaya, the 24^th of July 2010: 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 18^th 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 10^th 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.