A woman starved to death after being trapped in an elevator for a month

Maintenance workers left for the extended Chinese New Year break and shut the power off.
 By 
Alicia Tan
 on 
Original image replaced with Mashable logo
Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

A 43-year-old Chinese woman was found dead by an apartment building's maintenance workers after she was trapped in an elevator for a month.

The incident took place in the northern city of Xi'an in China. According to local authorities, the woman was trapped after maintenance workers from Shaanxi Kaiwen Mechanical and Electrical Equipment Company shut off the power supply to service the malfunctioning elevator on Jan. 30.

However, the workers left for the extended Chinese New Year break and only returned to the gruesome find of the woman's corpse on Mar. 1. Reports also said that the lift walls were covered in desperate scratch marks made by the woman.


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The authorities investigating the incident have since found the woman's death to be due to the "gross negligence" of the elevator company.

Original image replaced with Mashable logo
Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

Investigators said the incident could have been avoided if the workers had properly checked that there wasn't anyone in the lift after cutting off the lift's power supply.

Two people in charge of the elevator company have been arrested and will be facing charges of involuntary manslaughter, reported CCTV News.

Residents of the apartment building described the incident as "horrific."

People are also questioning how the woman could have gone missing for a month without anyone raising suspicion. Police said that the deceased woman lived alone in the building and has been suffering from a mental illness since her divorce with barely any visitors.

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Alicia Tan

Alicia Tan was an Asia Deputy Editor at Mashable. She has over 11 years of experience in journalism, magazine production and content publishing; specialising in women's lifestyle, fashion and beauty. When she's not writing, she's obsessing over Totoro, Ryan Gosling and online shopping.

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