What's up with the lifts in HDB blocks malfunctioning these days? On Tuesday, a 59-year-old woman suffered a spine fracture after the lift at Block 150 Petir Road did not work as per usual. The doors didn't open at the ground floor as they should — instead, the lift sped up to the 11th floor, then down to the 3rd floor, before zooming up again and then braking abruptly between the 12th and 13th floors, flinging the lady to the floor.
Madam Yeo, who was stuck in the confined space for 30 minutes before being rescued, said it felt like an earthquake when the lift suddenly stopped. In fear, she grabbed the rails tightly, but still fell when the lift braked. As a result, she suffered a compression fracture to her lumbar vertebrae and was warded at Ng Teng Fong General Hospital — doctors said recovery would take six weeks.