Surat: A group of 13 friends spent an anxious 45 minutes trapped inside an elevator after it suddenly stopped near the basement of a mall in Udhna in the early hours of Friday.The group had gone to watch a movie after spending time at a Ganpati mandap and were returning from the theatre when the elevator, moving towards the basement, suddenly stopped. With no mobile network available inside the basement, those trapped found themselves unable to call for help.As the minutes passed, some of them began experiencing breathlessness and panic. One of the passengers, however, eventually managed to get through to the fire control room and alert the authorities.A team from the Surat Fire and Emergency Services rushed to the mall and began efforts to open the elevator. Fire personnel forced open the door and safely evacuated all 13 passengers.Those rescued told fire officials that they had remained trapped for around 45 minutes. Some complained of suffocation and breathlessness but began recovering soon after they were brought into the open and given assistance.A fire official said the elevator appeared to have stopped because it was overloaded. “There was no mobile network inside the basement and the security guards were outside near the mall entrance at the time. Fortunately, one person managed to contact the fire control room and we were able to rescue them,” the official said.
