RG Kar hospital tragedy: ‘Operator dozed on 6th floor when lift got stuck’

KOLKATA: The lift man, in charge of the fateful elevator in the Trauma Care building at R G Kar Medical College, was listening to music and dozing, along with other staff members, in a sixth-floor room on Friday, when the lift malfunctioned, leading to the death of 40-year-old Arup Banerjee, said police.

On being alerted about the lift being stranded, with Banerjee, his wife, and son inside, the lift man woke up and called the lift to the sixth floor.

The elevator suddenly started moving again and Banerjee, who had tried to pry open the doors and step out, got fatally stuck between the half-opened door and the wall. A hospital official said such was the crushing pressure that 21 of 24 bones in Banerjee's ribcage were fractured and his internal organs punctured, leading to immense chest compression, which caused his death.

Police suspect "inexperienced hands" had fiddled with lift equipment when alarms were raised.

Five persons—lift operators Milan Kumar Das (49), Biswanath Das (48) and Manas Kumar Guha (55) and security guards Ashraful Rehman (31) and Subhadip Das (25)—have so far been arrested. Five others, including a CISF member and two cops on duty at the hospital, are under police lens now.

Back at Banerjee's home on Jawpur Road on Dum Dum, his bereaved family conducted a pre-shradh ritual on Sunday. "The shradh will be a quiet, family affair on Monday. Only close relatives will be called," said a relative.

Between Saturday night and Sunday, police have recorded statements of Banerjee's wife Sonali and multiple witnesses. "So far, we have found that the lift malfunctioned, which caused the accident. A probe is now on to find out what led to the malfunction and the roles of different persons," said KP commissioner Ajay Nand.

Records showed Lift 2, in which Banerjee died, was inspected at the beginning of the month. An audit of all the elevators at the hospital is carried out every 25-30 days. An official from the company, in charge of the maintenance of three lifts at RG Kar, claimed no significant fault was found with the lift during the March check. Police said engineers from the company were summoned to Tala PS and later, Lalbazar for questioning.

The PWD electrical department and the company, which had installed the elevator, will on Monday jointly check the electrical system that powers the elevators, in the presence of hospital officials. The same day, the RG Kar internal probe panel is expected to submit its report on the accident.

The hospital authorities are now preparing an SOP for operating elevators. "We have 32 lifts at the hospital, and three persons are needed to run each of them 24×7. So, we need 96 lift operators but we don't have that manpower," said a hospital official.

Police are focusing on a separate machine room outside each lift that can control operations during mechanical faults. Sources said someone entered the room on the day of the incident. With no CCTV camera in the lift, external footage is being checked to identify him. "Forensic experts from the physics department examined the lift on Saturday. Biology department experts will on Monday check the spot, where the victim fell and explain the injuries he suffered," said an officer.