Woman plummets three stories down to her death

On Thursday, January 5 at 08:00 Stage 2 Load Shedding went into affect. An elevator in the Sanlam building in the Central Business District came to a standstill between the third and the fourth floor.

Emalahleni Fire Department was called out to rescue the trapped people in the elevator.
What was supposed to be a simple rescue effort took a turn for the worst. As fire and rescue personnel opened both doors on the fourth and third floor. This meant that there was a gap into the open shaft underneath the third floor opening.

According to the fire chief, as his personnel were getting ready to assist the people out of the elevator through the opening, a woman apparently miss stepped as she leaped out causing her to fall backwards into the gap and plummet three stories down to her death.

The deceased Ms Brenda Mongwane leaves behind her six-month-old baby and her sister, who she was staying with. Apparently the family is still shocked about what happened as nobody has really explained to them exactly what caused the incident.

Otis, manufacturer of the lift, has been contacted for comment. An Otis spokesperson confirmed that they are conducting an investigation, the investigation is a standard part of Otis safety procedures that they conduct for internal use only there for it would not be made public.

JD Med was on scene to treat people for trauma as many people stood by to watch the rescue operation and saw Mongwane fall to her death.
Pathology and Witbank 911 were on the scene to extricate the body from the bottom of the shaft as hundreds of pedestrians in the busy CBD gathered outside the building, behind the yellow tape to see what the commotion was about.

The victim was apparently training to be a security guard and was the bread winner.
The family is struggling financially to arrange her funeral.