HYDERABAD: A man’s body and for persons, said to be his heirs, remained trapped in a lift for quite some time when it broke down at the Liaquat University Hospital (LUH) on Sunday.

They were rescued after about two hours of hectic efforts as the lift’s key could not be found. The LUH administration, however, claimed that the rescue work lasted 23 minutes.

The incident took place in the LUH building that houses the surgical ICU (intensive care unit).

The deceased man’s attendants, who were present on the building’s ground floor, filmed the rescue work and uploaded its videos on different social media platforms which went viral.

The videos showed people, purportedly hospital staff, trying hard to break open the lift’s door from outside with the help of iron rods.

The deceased was identified as Atta Mohammad Soomro, who had received serious injuries in a road accident a few days back and had been under treatment in the ICU till he died on Sunday.

The body was being brought to the ground floor by the four men when the lift broke down.

One of Soomro’s family members informed about their ordeal to other relatives over phone.

The LUH administration was approached but they could not help out. In the meantime, several other relatives of the deceased gathered there and started screaming and raising a hue and cry.

A doctor asked security guards to try to open the lift’s door from outside but they failed.

After quite some time, some hospital employees turned up and somehow broke open the door enabling the trapped men to come out along with the body.

It was learnt that nobody in the administration knew as to who had the lift’s key.

LUH version

On its part, the hospital administration stated that a technical fault had developed in the lift on June 8 when a body was being shifted. The lift was opened after 23 minutes of efforts, it claimed.

“The elevator’s service has been suspended and its company has been contacted. A committee has also been formed to hold an inquiry into the incident and fix responsibility,” it said.

According to LUH Medical Superintendent Dr Ali Akbar Dahiri, the lift operator, Qadeer, has been sacked. He was working on a daily-wage basis.

The inquiry committee is headed by AMS (General) Dr Mohammad Ali Kaimkhani.

Published in Dawn, June 10th, 2025