Watch The Elevator Ride To Hell; 31 Floors In 15 Seconds Flat With Both Doors Open

Elevators aren’t supposed to go at break-neck speed unless they are specifically designed to do so. Moreover, they are never supposed to move when the doors are ajar. But an unsuspecting rider witnessed both these conditions in what must be the most terrifying 15 seconds of his life.

José Vergara Acevedo rocketed 31 floors in 15 seconds flat when an elevator malfunctioned in Providencia, Chile on Saturday. The unwary traveler was reported to have been severely injured when the elevator came to an abrupt halt after reaching the last floor. Mr. Acevedo was apparently hurled to the ceiling of the elevator.

CCTV video posted on YouTube shows 31-year-old José Vergara Acevedo frantically pressing the lift’s buttons after a technical problem caused it to hurtle up 31 floors in the space of 15 seconds. What’s even more terrifying is the fact that the automatic doors were wide open and Jose could see the floors. The CCTV footage cuts out as the elevator crashes into the roof of the building in Bustamente Community Park in Providencia, a suburb of the capital Santiago.

The video footage starts out as a regular elevator ride as José enters and pushes the button to his desired floor. But all hell breaks loose when the elevator starts to malfunction. As the elevator starts to ascend and gain speed, the door opened and Jose is left to witness the horrific ascension, reported The Independent. Though José attempts to halt the elevator by frantically pressing all buttons, nothing stops the havoc.

The elevator quickly gains speed and viewers can easily count the floors that the elevator passes before it hits the roof at breakneck speed. Though the video cuts off abruptly, local authorities confirmed that José suffered head and leg injuries when the elevator eventually crashed into the roof, reported New York Post.

All modern elevators are supposed to have breaks to ensure such mishaps do not happen. Moreover, they are supposed to have two separate sets of brakes on all the rails. These are referred to as primary and secondary. In case the primary brakes fail, the secondary brakes are supposed to halt the elevator. However, the elevator in question doesn’t appear to have any sort of breaking mechanism. But ironically it had a CCTV camera.

Though the local authorities are investigating the matter, it is unclear whether elevator had those brakes, and they malfunctioned, or if none existed. Apparently, building records indicated that the building had been completed barely eight weeks ago.

At the time of ascend the elevator had reached the speeds of about 50 miles per hour (80 km/h). Clearly José had a ride on the elevator to hell, but managed to stay alive.

[Image Credit | Discovery]