Unfortunate! Indonesian woman falls to her death down airport elevator shaft

In what comes as an unfortunate incident, a woman plummeted to her death at an Indonesian airport after forcing open the wrong set of doors of a lift and falling down the shaft. The incident was caught on CCTV cameras showing the last few minutes of the woman, identified as 38-year-old Aisiah Sinta Dewi.

Dewi had gone to Kualanamu Airport in Medan, Northern Indonesia on April 24 to meet her niece at the check-in area. In the video footage, Dewi calmly walks into the double-sided cabin and pushed the button for the second floor before looking at her phone. Unaware that the lift opened on the other side as well, a confused Dewi started pressing the emergency buttons frantically and called her niece about the distressing situation.

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She later started to pry open the door and somehow managed to successfully do it. However, unfortunately, without looking down, she stepped out and plunged down the gap into the lift shaft.

(The video might be triggering for some readers. Please watch at your own risk)

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Family's request to airport authority

The family of the deceased asked the airport authorities to look for herafter losing contact. But they could not make any progress, saying she was not found in the airport terminal.

The body was only found when passengers complained of a foul smell emanating from the lift. After the authorities investigated the smell, they stumbled upon Dewi's rotting body which had been lying in the shaft for three days. The lift, however, was working fine.

Dewi's brother Raja Hasibuan blamed the authorities and their poor elevator security as the reason for her sister's death.

"We asked for the video from the elevator because it was there that we lost contact with her," said Hasibuan. "This is an international-level airport. How are safety standards like this? And the response from the staff was very, very unsatisfactory."

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Dedi Al Subur, the airport's head of corporate communications, blamed the accident on lift malfunction, stating that Dewi herself tried to prise the doors open.

The local law enforcement agencies have now opened an investigation into the matter. They have so far questioned 12 witnesses, including airport officers and security personnel. The police added they were awaiting the results of theforensic examination to take further action.

(With inputs from agencies)

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