Thiruvananthapuram: A middle-aged man who went to Trivandrum Medical College hospital for a check-up on Saturday got trapped inside an elevator for two days.
The incident came to light when a lift operator came for duty on Monday morning.
Kerala medical education directorate immediately suspended two lift operators and a duty sergeant in connection with the incident. The action was taken after Health Minister Veena George ordered an inquiry into the incident.
Narrating his harrowing experience, Raveendran Nair, 59, who is also a temporary employee of the legislative assembly, said he had gone to the Orthopaedics department for a check-up.
He got into the lift to go to the first floor. But it went down and the doors didn't open.
"As the elevator shook heavily, my phone slipped out of my hand and fell on the floor. It broke because of the impact. I kept pressing the alarm button in panic but none came to my rescue. Nobody responded to the calls made from the emergency phone kept inside the lift," he told media persons.
The lift operator who locked the lift at the end of the day's duty didn't bother to open it and look inside.
The person's family members had filed a missing person complaint with the medical college police station on Sunday night.
Raveendran, who is currently under observation at the casualty wing of the hospital, said with no sign of help coming, the fear of death gripped him.
On Monday morning, the lift operator was shocked to see him lying exhausted inside the elevator. He was immediately shifted to the casualty.
