Hyderabad: 6-year-old boy trapped in apartment lift dies in hospital

Hyderabad: A six-year-old boy who was trapped in a lift mishap for hours before being rescued in Hyderabad's Masab Tank region died on Saturday at a local hospital.

The deceased was identified as Arnav. On Friday, the boy slipped between the space between the lift door and the wall in the Masab Tank area and was stranded near the first floor of a four-storey building for over two hours.

The boy was rescued by firefighters and members of the Hyderabad Disaster Response and Asset Protection Agency (HYDRAA), who used gas cutters to cut through the floor slab and lift frame. The boy was subsequently admitted to a hospital.

At about 12.30 pm on Saturday, the boy, who had internal injuries, was pronounced dead, the police said, and added that the exact cause of death will be determined after a postmortem. The police shifted the deceased for post-mortem examination to the Osmania General Hospital mortuary.

After being stuck in the elevator shaft for over two hours, the boy suffocated and sustained serious internal injuries, the doctors said.

According to police, the boy had entered the first floor elevator while accompanying his grandfather to see a relative in the apartment complex.

However, before the grill door could close, the lift began ascending, and as the boy attempted to step out, he became trapped between the lift and the wall, according to preliminary findings. It is suspected that the lift's inadequate maintenance led the inside door to fail to close correctly, resulting in the accident.

A case has been registered, and further investigations are underway, the police said.