Hotel accused of 'serious negligence' after guests were left trapped in malfunctioning lift for 2 hours

MALAYSIA: An elevator malfunction at a hotel in Petaling Jaya left guests trapped inside for nearly two hours on Friday (Sep 5), sparking criticism of the hotel’s management for what one visitor described as “serious negligence”. According to Sin Chew Daily, a man who had driven almost an hour to attend an event at the hotel recounted on Facebook that he was informed by phone that his friends were stuck in the elevator, which had become lodged between the ground floor and the first floor. The man immediately alerted hotel staff and security, only to be told by a security guard that the hotel’s technicians were on leave due to the public holiday. The guard assured him that a technician would arrive within 10 minutes. “How could this happen? There was clearly an event, but there were no (technical) personnel on emergency standby,” he questioned in his post. After waiting for 30 minutes with no progress, the man called the Fire Department himself. Moments later, the guard announced that a technician had arrived, prompting the man to cancel his call, a decision he later described as the “worst” he made that day. Despite their arrival, technicians reportedly struggled for an hour to fix the problem without success. During this period, the Fire Department called back, saying it had already received multiple public complaints. When asked to speak to the security guard, the guard allegedly refused, leaving the man “dumbfounded”. The Fire Department eventually issued an ultimatum, giving technicians 10 minutes to resolve the issue or risk intervention. Within 15 minutes, the elevator door was finally opened and a ladder was lowered, allowing the trapped individuals to climb out safely. The man questioned why this was not attempted earlier, arguing that the two-hour ordeal could have been avoided and criticising the hotel management’s lack of urgency and failure to prioritise guest safety. He asserted that the hotel’s handling of the incident reflected a “serious failure of responsibility” on the part of its management.