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London's Tower Bridge Elevator Plunges 30 feet: six Injured
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by Blaine Metzgar | May 11, 2009 at 12:20 pm
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An elevator in London's famed Tower Bridge plunged 30 feet to the ground causing six injuries.
Five of the six people injured were Spanish tourists while the other was a staff member of the bridge.
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The elevator was carrying 16 people up to the top of the north tower when it suddenly dropped without warning.
It only came to a stop when it smashed into the concrete base of the shaft on the north side of the bridge where people enter the Tower Bridge exhibition, one of London's most popular tourist attractions.
The victims of the accident were treated at London's Royal Hospital. Those treated suffered from lower body related injuries including broken legs and angles.
Those hurt included a husband and wife who suffered leg injuries. One person was taken from the scene on a stretcher.
London Ambulance Service (LAS) said it was called just before 1:10 p.m. to reports of an incident at Tower Bridge.
The cause of the drop is suspected to be related to the cables that operate the elevator. London Police's Crime Scene Investigation is looking into the incident to verify that it was indeed an accident.
Following the incident, the Tower Bridge was closed for two hours inciting major traffic jams throughout the city.
Officials confirmed that this had never happened before and that they would be launching a full investigation.
The Tower Bridge Exhibition, which opened in 1982, is highly popular attracting up to one thousand tourists a day.
The exhibition of the Tower Bridge will be closed while the investigation continues and lifts will remain out of commission until the serviceability has been made certain.
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Most RecentMost Recommended Comments (1)
at 02:56 on May 12th, 2009
It is allways the non-execution of safety-checks and maintenance or even worse: conceptional errors in the construction or modernisation, that causes these type of "accidents". If everyone does his job, an elevator cannot fall.