中国电梯事故频发

Frequent elevator accidents across the country have drawn wide attention in recent years . Let’s take a look at some of the fatal accidents that have raised questions about how safe it is to get in an elevator.

Ms Yu and her 18-month-old son were the victims of an elevator accident less than two weeks ago. They stepped into the elevator, not knowing it was just the shaft and fell down. The had door opened but the elevator hadn’t arrived yet.

Ms Yu's mother-in-law says, "I shouted out her name, but didn’t hear any response. Then I heard my grandchild crying. I didn’t know what to do and called help."

Ms. Yu was killed in the incident, and her son was badly injured.

Wenzhou authorities say that the elevator was still in its guarantee period, and that further investigations were underway.

A more sensational case happened in Beijing last July.

An escalator at a subway station suddenly started moving in the opposite direction during rush hour, knocking people down. A 13-year-old boy died and 30 others were injured.

An investigation by Beijing’s safety authorities showed the accident was caused by a malfunctioning component that suddenly loosened the drive chain. Its safety mechanism also failed to prevent the escalator from moving in the reverse direction.

The Beijing municipal transport commission then suspended the use of all 257 escalators of this make in the capital until it passed all safety checks.

Li Lianghua, official of Beijing administration of Quality & Tech supervision, says, "Currently nearly 24% of Beijing’s elevators have passed their 10-year guarantee period, as a result the risk of accidents has increased."

By the end of 2010, there were more than 1.6 million elevators in use across the country. And the numbers were growing by 20% each year which translates into 300,000 new elevators a year, taking up more than half of the world’s total.

Since 2005, the average number of elevator accidents each year totalled about 40, with about 30 fatalities .