Decapitation and the slow death of a woman trapped for a MONTH…. The chilling stories of when lifts go wrong
Some of the people were crushed as they tried to escape...
MILLIONS of us travel in lifts every day of our lives and, statistically, they are one of the safest forms of transport.
The chance of dying in a lift is one in 10,440,000 - according to - but what happens when elevators do malfunction?
A mum-of-three was "sliced in half" by a hospital lift in Seville, Spain, shortly after giving birth on Sunday.
These are six horrific stories of lifts which have gone wrong, tragically killing the people who happened to be travelling in them.
1. Trapped for a month
A Chinese woman, 43, died of thirst after being trapped in a lift for more than month in 2016.
Workers had switched off power to the malfunctioning lift in late January, after shouting to see if anyone was in there, before taking a month's break to celebrate the Chinese New Year.
The woman, who lived alone in the building in Xi'an, was not found until they returned weeks later.
When she was discovered at the start of March, authorities found that the walls were covered in desperate scratch marks.
According to reports in China, an investigation found the death was due to a grave error by the maintenance company.
Several people were arrested over the case, which was treated as involuntary manslaughter.
2. Hero worker dies
Back in January 1995, James Chenault was killed when helping his colleagues escape from a broken down lift - which had stopped just above the level of the second floor.
The 55-year-old welfare clerk, who worked in he Kingsbridge Welfare Center, the Bronx, New York City, was a Vietnam War Veteran.
He bravely held the doors open, with one leg in the lift and the other on the second floor, to help the other workers get out.
When the lift suddenly shot up, James was beheaded.
His body fell to the second floor lobby, while his head fell into the lift - and the two remaining passengers were shot up to the ninth floor.
The lift had been out of order the day before, and a repairman was due to be fixing it on the day of the accident.
The lift had passed its inspection in November, just two months earlier.
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3. Teenagers plunge to their death
In May of this year, two teenage sweethearts plunged to their death after the glass bottom or wall of a lift caved in from the ninth floor.
The boy and girl, both aged 17, were leaving a block of luxury flats in Salamanca, Spain, and heading to a party to celebrate the end of exams.
The pair died as a result of multiple injuries. Police said the lift had been properly maintained, according to safety regulations.
4. Killed while trying to escape
A university worker was crushed to death in December 2011, after climbing out of a broken down lift in an attempt to escape.
Annette Lujan, 48, who worked at Cal State in Long Beach, California, was halfway out of the lift when it began to move.
She was trapped between the second and third floor, and crushed by the 2,000lb lift. Annette was rescued, but died later in hospital.
5. Leg trapped
In December 2011, an advertising executive was killed in a freak accident at an office building in Madison Avenue, New York.
Suzanne Hart, 41, was an executive with Y&R - and became trapped as she stepped into the lift.
Her leg became caught in the closing doors and, as the car rose, Suzanne's body was dragged into the shaft - immediately killing her.
6. Crushed by the doors
Polish-born Katarzyna Woja was killed while using the lift in her fancy London gym in March 2003.
The banker was the last person to leave the lift in Broadgate Health Club, the City, when it closed unexpectedly - crushing her.
Katarzyna was crushed to death when the lift dropped.
The lift has done a similar thing the day before and had allegedly been repaired, Southwark Crown Court heard in May 2010.
The health club chain and ThyssenKrupp Elevator UK were fined £230,000 each over her death - while Holmes Place was ordered to pay £170,000 in court costs, and ThyssenKrupp £205,000 costs.