Lift drops suddenly with 11 people packed in – the limit was eight

Don't have nightmares!

Footage from a security camera has captured the moment an overcrowded lift broke and fell to the basement in Brazil, leaving three people injured.

There were 11 people packed into a lift that was only designed to carry eight, at the residential building in the Mangabeiras neighbourhood of Maceió.

The security camera shows the entire group coming through the doors at the same time on the 10th floor of the complex.

They travel down to the lobby level without any issues, but things started to go wrong when the doors fail to open.

Seconds later, the lift suddenly plunges to the basement.

Brazilian news outlet Estado said three people were slightly injured after they hit the bottom of the shaft.

The passengers reportedly had to wait for around nine minutes inside before they managed to yank the doors open.

Leonardo Pereira, the building’s superintendent, told UOL Noticias: ‘When the elevator reached the ground floor, it stopped, but the door did not open and it entered a restart process to go the basement and recalibrate.

‘People may have freaked out, and then they forced open the door.’

When asked about the injuries, he added: ‘We don’t minimize people’s scare, but it was more of a scare.’

Later pictures show the people who were trapped in the lift recovering in a car park.

Speaking to Estado, André Elias, a spokesman for the São Paulo Fire Department, said: ‘It is essential to respect the operating limits of the elevator.’

He added: ‘Those in charge must also be aware of the schedule of maintenance that must be carried out to maintain the proper functioning of the elevator.’

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