'Hotel covered up elevator accident'

By Kim Se-jeong

Conrad Seoul is accused of covering up an accident in which one of the hotel’s elevators carrying two passengers stopped while descending in March.

The passengers were locked in the elevator for 10 minutes before being rescued and no one was reported injured.

According to the Korea Elevator Safety Institute (KESI), the hotel did not report the accident to the institute, which is required by law. Any elevator accident with a passenger onboard is considered serious, and the elevator manager is obliged to notify the institute. A violator can be fined up to 5 million won ($4,570).

The hotel said, “It is not the hotel’s responsibility to report the case to the relevant authority. This is the responsibility of the lift management company.”

The accident happened on March 13 as one of the elevators descending from the hotel’s 29th floor stopped on the 13th floor.

One of the two passengers told a local TV station, claiming that the elevator fall was like a free fall. “I heard a sound similar to that of a screw getting loose and fell to the 13th floor.”

However, the KESI’s investigation found the elevator was descending fine until it reached the 13th floor, then stopped. One of the passengers later received counseling.

Elevator accidents are commonly underreported. Statistics showed almost 4,300 elevator accidents happened last year in Seoul involving passengers, but only 1,000 cases were reported to the KESI.