CRUSHED IN LIFT

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 79, Issue 168, 20 July 1935, Page 9

CRUSHED IN LIFT

' YOUNG MAN’S DEATH DEPARTMENT CRITICISED ( Per Press Association. ) WELLINGTON, July 19. ►Strong criticism of the methods used by the Marine Department in the licensing of lifts in city buildings, was expressed by Air. O. C. Mazengarb at the inquest held to-.day into the death of Gordon Sims, electrical apprentice, aged 174, who was killed through being crushed between a lift and a wall of a shaft in Magnus Motors building un Saturday morning. Air. Alazengarb, who appeared for the parents of deceased, subjected the inspector of machinery for the Marine Department to a lengthy cross-exam-ination on the fact that the lift had been operated without a licence since April or May, and expressed the opinion that it was perfectly scandalous that lifts in Wellington went unlicensed for two or three months solely because the department could not get round the city in time. An electrician explained that all except the ground-floor gates of the lift were electrically controlled. The ground-floor gates operated vertically and rose ur dropped as the lift descended or ascended. Judging by the position of .deceased, it appeared that he stepped into the lift as it started to ascend, and was knocked down by the gate as it dropped into position. A verdict was returned that dceeased was fatally injured by'being crushed when attempting to enter a goods lift in motion. The coroner said that the lift machinery had been passed by expert men, and were ordinary care was taken it would not he dangerous.