Boy, 7, crushed to death by elevator at holiday house
A little boy has died after he was crushed by an elevator at an affluent holiday rental home.
The boy, 7, died at a beach mansion in the US state of North Carolina with emergency crews receiving a call on the weekend regarding a child trapped inside an elevator, Fox 5 reported.
The boy was found stuck between the elevator car and the elevator shaft inside the home.
First responders said the young boy was unable to be revived.
Fire chief Rich Shortway told The Washington Post the boy’s neck appeared to have been caught between the moving elevator’s inner accordion door and an outer door.
The death was ruled accidental by police.
According to a 2019 investigation by the Post, at least eight children in the US had been killed in “elevator entrapments” between 1981 and 2019.
In reporting the latest death, it claimed such instances could be avoided with a cheap and easy fix.
"The elevator industry has known about this particular safety hazard for decades. It also has known about a simple way to prevent it: a $100 plastic or foam insert to block the gap," the Washington Post said.
In North Carolina, where the latest tragedy occurred, state authorites don't inspect elevators inside private homes like they do with commercial and public buildings, the Associated Press reported.
"If an accident happened in or around a private residence elevator, there is no requirement to report that accident to us," department spokeswoman Jennifer Haigwood told the AP.
The boy's name is yet to be released.
He and his family were visiting from the US state of Ohio, WAVY reported.
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