It was previously reported that 6 people were stuck inside a stalled lift with a dead body during a funeral procession.
The group of 6 were trapped inside the lift for about 50 minutes with the deceased, before being rescued by the Singapore Civil Defence Force.
The West Coast Town Council has since apologised for the incident and addressed the incident, according to TODAY.
Lift was overloaded
The town council said that according to preliminary findings, the lift was overloaded at the time of the incident, adding that the capacity limit of the lift was 545kg.
They said that the overloading of the lift’s capacity caused it to overshoot its landing at the ground level, and the difference between the levelling of the lift and its landing triggered a safety mechanism.
The activation of the safety mechanism resulted in the door of the lift being shut and trapping the people inside, but the lights and fans were still functioning.
The town council said that upon the occurrence of the incident, a lift rescue team was immediately activated.
“Sorry for the incident”
West Coast Town Council also apologised to the family of the deceased, saying “we would like to apologise to the family for the unpleasant experience.”
The SCDF said that they received a call for help at about 2.05pm, and when officers arrived, lift technicians were already at the scene trying to open the doors.
The SCDF used hydraulic equipment to create a gap between the lift doors to improve the ventilation for the trapped people inside.
They were eventually freed at about 2.45pm after the doors were opened by technicians, and one person was assessed for breathing difficulties but declined conveyance to the hospital.
Lift was last serviced 2 weeks ago
West Coast Town Council said that all the lifts in the areas are serviced on a monthly basis, and the affected lift was last serviced on 26 September.
They added that there were no faults detected in the lift over the past 3 months, and a detailed inspection was also conducted after the incident and no faults were found.