12-year-old boy gets stuck in apartment lift in Hyderabad, dies

Hyderabad: A 12-year-old boy died after getting stuck in a lift in an apartment in Hyderabad. The incident took place on Wednesday when the boy who worked for newspaper delivery had entered the elevator to drop newspapers in an apartment complex at Barkatpura.  

"It is suspected that after delivering the papers he came down and again went inside the lift from ground floor when he got stuck between the grill door and wall and sustained injuries in the incident and died," a police official attached to Kachiguda police station said.

A police officer informed that the lift has two doors, one on the outside and a grill inside with a small gap between the two. He said that after closing the grill, the boy came out and then suddenly turned back to enter the lift again by attempting to open the internal grill. However, since the lift had already started moving up, he got stuck in the gap between the doors. 

The boy was a sixth standard student who used to deliver newspapers in view of his summer vacations. He reportedly earned Rs 1,000 a month to help his parents who are daily wage labourers. A case has been registered against the newspaper agent for employing a minor boy.

The police have said that whether they will act against the owner of the apartment complex will be based on the outcome of further probe. 

As per a report in the New Indian Express, the CCTV footage shows the boy coming out of the lift, delivering newspapers, and then returning to the machine. Moments later, the building watchman is seen rushing towards the lift to find the boy's foot dangling from the first floor. His body had been crushed. 

The boy was taken to Osmania General Hospital but was declared brought dead. A witness reportedly said that the police had to open the floorboard that closes the gap between the lift floor and the wall to get his body out.