KUCHING: Sixteen individuals experienced a moment of claustrophobic panic when they became trapped in an elevator at the UTC Kuching building yesterday (Feb 17).
Firefighters from Padungan station were dispatched to the scene after being alerted of the incident at 4.30pm.
Upon arrival, they had to use a crowbar to pry open the elevator doors to allow fresh air into the confined space.
Moments later, a representative from the building management arrived with a set of special keys to manually open the elevator doors.
All of the occupants were safely released from the elevator shortly after.
The rescue operation ended at 4.58pm.
