A doctor and his wife who run a nursing home in south Kolkata’s Kasba were critically injured in a free fall when the cables of an elevator in their building apparently snapped and the cabin crashed to the ground floor from the third on Monday afternoon.
Anirban Mitra, 55, suffered multiple injuries, including fractured ankles and a “puncture wound” on his right toe. Wife Chaitali, 52, fractured her spine and ankles.
Both are in the ICU of Ruby General Hospital. Chaitali, whose wounds are more critical than her husband’s, is on ventilator support.
A family member said the nursing home — Amrapali Geriatric Home, nearKasba New Market — is about eight years old. The elevator was installed only three years ago.
The accident happened when the couple, who live on the top floor of the four-storeyed building that houses the nursing home on the other three floors, were going up around 12.30pm.
Neighbours and people at the reception on the ground floor of the building told police they heard a “loud thud” around 12.30pm.
“The doctor and his wife were found lying on the floor of the elevator that had crashed. Both had bleeding injuries, mostly in their lower limbs,” said an officer of Kasba police station.
The police said the couple have a 21-year-old college-going son.
An official at Ruby General Hospital said both had suffered blunt injuries all over, apart from fractures and lacerated wounds. “The injuries are what one typically suffers in a fall from height. Dr Mitra was conscious when he was brought to the hospital. His wife was unconscious and her injuries are far more critical,” said the official.
The four-storeyed building in Kasba where the accident happened
The couple are being treated by a team of doctors that includes a critical care expert, an orthopaedic, a general surgeon, a neurosurgeon and a gynaecologist, the hospital said.
One of Mitra’s relatives, Rana Basu, told The Telegraph that the lift was “only three years old” and that it was beyond their imagination that it could fall like this.
The police said on Monday evening they were yet to start any case.
“It seems the cables of the elevator snapped. Till now, we have not been able to talk to the doctor who owns the building. We are yet to start any case,” said an officer at Kasba police station.
The lift cabin that crashed had a collapsible grille door. The police said they were collecting details of the manufacturer of the elevator and trying to find out whether it had malfunctioned in the recent past.
Last month, a 57-year-old liftman at Om Towers — a 16-storey building on Jawaharlal Nehru Road in the heart of the city — accidentally fell into the lift shaft when the elevator, which was under maintenance, started moving upward. The man was crushed under the lift as it came down suddenly in the next few seconds.