Chicago firefighters safely save passengers after the fall of the 84-storey skyscraper elevator



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The John Hancock Center, seen here in 2007.
Photo: Mr. Spencer Green (AP)

An express elevator in a Chicago building formerly called John Hancock Center until earlier this year, the 100-story tower of 875 North Michigan Avenue, the city's fourth skyscraper, fell from the Signature Room restaurant At its 95th floor CBS News reported Monday that the descent took place on November 17th, due to a "broken lifting rope".

Modern lifts being equipped with several hoisting ropes, the car fortunately did not sink at high speed in the bottom of the sheath, which did not hurt anybody nor was hospitalized. But CBS News reported that those who were in the elevator thought their death was imminent as the car began to slide into the pit:

While visiting Mexico, Jaime Montemayor did not expect his trip to Chicago to include being stuck in an elevator.

"At first I thought we were going to die," said Montemayor. "We were going downstairs and then I felt we were falling and then I heard a clack clack clack clack clack clack sound.

His wife, Mana Castillo, said that the elevator was moving quickly and that a dust-like material began to filter in the elevator. She learned that they had learned later that they had gone from the 95th to the 11th floor.

CBS News added that since it was an express elevator, the rescuers did not have a door to open on the 11th floor and that it was impossible to do so because the stability of the car was compromised. Instead, firefighters opened a hole in the concrete wall adjacent to the car.

According to USA Today, authorities said the rescue took nearly three hours. The Chicago Tribune reported:

The first fire crews at the scene had checked the building's electronic system to have "a rough idea" of the location of the elevator somewhere near the 11th floor of a building. Parking garage, said Chicago Fire Department spokesman Larry Langford. They punctured a small hole in the concrete wall and inserted a tiny camera on a "goose neck" shaped cable to look around him and find exactly where he was, Langford said. "Once they did that, they knew which walls to break."

… "They put up spacers to make sure he could not fall, if something happened," said Langford … "The only other way to get to the elevator would have been through ropes from the 97th floor. it would not be safe. We do not go down like Batman, so we have to go through the wall. "

City Building Department spokesman Gregg Cunningham told the Tribune: "This rope is one of the cables connected to the elevator and, even if it fails, redundancy is in place. . The details of how it failed and the type of failure are still the subject of an investigation. "

Luis Vazquez, a civil engineer from Mexico City and a friend of passenger Jaime Montemayor, told The Tribune: "This is the second most important building in Chicago? And it's the third most important city in the United States? In the 98 floors, they have no place to open a door? It's the craziest thing. "

The incident is currently under investigation, but USA Today reported that the elevator in question had been inspected annually in July 2018.

[CBS News/Chicago Tribune]
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