Hospital lift malfunction kills octogenarian in City

An 80-year-old retired engineer died of head injuries suffered after falling into the shaft of a lift at Fortis Hospital in Nagarbhavi here on Wednesday evening.

Sachidananda Murthy, a resident of Vijayanagar, took his wife Lovely Devi to the hospital for dialysis. After the procedure was completed, the elderly couple went to the ground floor and sat inside their car.

On realising that he had not collected some papers and bills, Murthy walked back to the ground floor and pressed the lift button. The lift door suddenly opened and Murthy stepped in and fell into the pit. The lift car, however, was still on the third floor. Murthy sustained severe head injuries and died on the spot, the police said.

When Murthy did not return, his wife and driver went looking for him. Hospital authorities checked the CCTV footage and noticed Murthy falling into the lift shaft.

The security guards later pulled out Murthy and the doctors attended on him. But he was dead by then. Murthy’s son Suhas, an engineer, rushed to the hospital and informed the Jnanabharathi police, who registered a case of negligence leading to death.

“Preliminary probe revealed that there was fault with the lift as the door opened all of a sudden. Murthy, who was old and had a weak eye sight, stepped in and fell down, assuming that the car of the lift had come down,” a police officer said.

The hospital issued a statement: “Fortis Hospitals confirms the death of a person due to an accident at Nagarbhavi hospital. We are in the process of investigating the matter and have informed officials concerned. We extend our deepest condolences to the bereaved family.”

Murthy earlier worked with a private company in Mysuru. When Deccan Herald contacted the hospital authorities, they were not forthcoming on the details.