This is a list of elevator accidents by death toll. It does not include accidents involving gondola lifts, ski lifts or similar types of cable transport.
List
Deaths Injuries DateIncident Location10401995-05-10In the Vaal Reefs mining disaster, a locomotive crashed through a safety barrier and fell into a mine shaft, hitting an elevator which was carrying 104 workers and causing it to plunge to the bottom of the shaft.Orkney, South Africa6201987-08-31A methane gas explosion at the St. Helena gold mine severed the cable of a double-deck elevator, causing it to fall 1.4 kilometers to the bottom of the mine shaft, killing all 52 people on board. 10 others who were not in the elevator were killed in the explosion.Welkom, South Africa3101980-03-27A descending elevator became stuck in the Vaal Reefs mine shaft and then fell to the bottom of the shaft when it abruptly became unstuck, killing all 31 miners on board.Orkney, South Africa1911932-10-10A mine-shaft elevator carrying 20 people fell at the Bickershaw Colliery, killing all but one person.Leigh, England1902012-09-13An elevator fell about 100 meters at a construction site, killing everyone on board.Wuhan, China18111973-07-30A mine-shaft elevator fell at the Markham Colliery.Chesterfield, England1601918-09-10Protection Island mining disaster: A mine-shaft elevator cable snapped causing the elevator to plunge to the bottom of the mine.Protection Island, Canada13732023-11-27A mine elevator fell 200 m in the Impala Platinum mine shaft accident.Rustenburg, South Africa1201993-06-02An elevator plunged to the ground from the 20th floor at a construction site.North Point, Hong Kong1202008-10-30An elevator plunged to the ground at a construction site.Xiapu County, China1142011-07-29A mine-shaft elevator fell at the Bazhanov coal mine.Makiivka, Ukraine1122019-04-25An elevator fell at a construction site due to a snapped cable.Hengshui, China1051964-03-27A steel cable hit a mine-shaft elevator at the Sachsen coal mine, killing 10 workers, including 5 Turkish nationals.Heeßen, Germany1002014-09-06An elevator plunged 32 stories at a construction site.Istanbul, Turkey902011-08-09An elevator fell from the 22nd floor at a building under construction due to a snapped cable.Salvador de Bahia, Brazil8–100-21904-01-13A crowd of employees at a Brown Shoe Company factory was waiting for the elevator when someone raised the gate, causing 10 people to fall down the shaft. At least 8 people were killed and two others suffered fatal injuries.St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.802016-07-15A construction elevator fell from the 18th story of an apartment building under construction.Longkou, China701989-05-21An elevator fell at the Príncipes de España Hospital, killing 7 visitors.L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Spain612019-12-31A temporary elevator at an under-construction tower at a farmhouse fell from a height of when the cable broke during a New Year's Eve party. A businessman and five members of his family were killed. Another relative was critically injured.6 killed on New Year's Eve as elevator crashes in IndiaElevator at industrialist’s farmhouse drops 70 feet, kills him and 5 relativesSix Members Of A Family Died In Lift Collapse In IndorePatalpani, Madhya Pradesh, India602017-01-05Six men fell out of a mine-shaft elevator due to a broken control switch.Mogok Township. Myanmar602018-09-04An elevator fell about 20 stories at a construction site.Tehran, Iran602019-03-09A construction elevator fell from the 15th floor.Karachi, Pakistan512+1957-03-20A construction elevator carrying 21 people plunged five floors when the cable broke.Jacksonville, Florida, U.S.501999-09-07An elevator carrying 5 painters fell from the 10th floor at an apartment building under construction, killing everyone on board.Yongin, South Korea502009-04-02Workers fell from an elevator at a construction site.Laiwu, China502023-09-01Five hotel employees were killed when the cable of an inclined elevator they were on snapped, causing the lift to fall down into a ravine. The victims were brought to a hospital, but all died during or shortly after the incident.Ubud, Bali, Indonesia502023-12-11Five construction workers were killed when a construction-site elevator failed and fell 20 m (66 ft) to the ground.Stockholm, Sweden4141903-05-22An elevator at the Donnelly Building fell from the 5th or 6th floor when the steel cable snapped, causing it to crash through the floor above the basement. It was caused by overloading and the elevator had an insufficient capacity. No charges were filed.Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.431909-03-25An elevator fell about 60 feet (18 m) at a wool warehouse at St Katharine DocksLondon, England431938-04A mine-shaft elevator fell 800 feet (244 m) at a gold mine.Beardmore, Ontario, Canada412018-09-04An elevator fell from the sixth floor of a hotel under construction. Overload of people and construction materials was blamed for the accident.Pailin Province, Cambodia401958-04-16An elevator at a dam at the Snowy Mountains Scheme fell about 400 feet (122 m) when the cable broke, killing 4 Italian employees of a French construction firm.Near Cabramurra, Australia401973-04-12A flash fire swept through an elevator at the Sears Tower, killing four elevator mechanics who were using cleaning fluid to rub down elevator guide rails.Chicago, Illinois, U.S.402019-12-30An elevator at a Brazilian Navy apartment building fell from the 9th floor when the cabin became detached from the cable system, killing four members of a family.Santos, São Paulo, Brazil371932-09An elevator fell 150 feet (46 m) down a shaft when the cable broke.Chicago, Illinois, U.S.332019-08-14An elevator carrying 4 workers fell from the 15th floor at an apartment building under construction, killing 3 of them and seriously injuring the 4th. Two workers on the ground were also injured.Sokcho, South Korea32+1892-03-15Workers at a boiler factory were using a freight elevator to lift heavy machinery when the rope broke. Three workers were killed instantly and two others suffered fatal injuries. Several others suffered minor injuries.St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.2161920-08-29An elevator plunged from the 10th floor at the Clarendon Building when the main cable broke.New York City, New York, U.S.2111902-10An elevator fell at a shoe factory.Lynn, Massachusetts, U.S.2101946-12-11An elevator dropped 35 feet (11 m) at the American Woolen Company Foxcroft Mill, after which the cables and other items crashed through the roof.Dover-Foxcroft, Maine, U.S.261904-09A freight elevator carrying ten people fell three stories at a Sears store. The freight elevator was being used because the passenger elevator was out of service for repairs.Chicago, Illinois, U.S.262023-02-17Two labourers were killed and six others injured when a cargo lift collapsed inside a cold storage facility in Chitra GIDC in Bhavnagar, GujaratBhavnagar, India222020-01-01Four people were in an elevator at an apartment building when it lost power as a result of a fire on the ground floor. The elevator stopped and the cabin filled with smoke, rendering the victims unconscious. A 39-year-old man and his 4-year-old son were killed, while the 36-year-old mother and the couple's 8-year-old daughter were seriously injured. The fire was likely caused by fireworks and two boys, aged 12 and 13, were arrested on suspicion of arson.Fireworks suspected cause of fatal Arnhem fireArnhem, Netherlands211987-08-29A mechanical fault caused a construction elevator at Scotia Plaza to hurtle upwards at 100 km/h, killing two workers and seriously injuring another when it crashed at the top.Toronto, Canada201999-05-13An elevator plunged four or five floors at a warehouse, killing two maintenance workers who were trying to take the elevator out of service.South Kearny, New Jersey, U.S.202002-08-23A temporary elevator fell 19 floors at an office tower under construction.New York City, New York, U.S.202017-05-09The floor of an elevator gave way between the 6th and 9th floor of an apartment building, causing two teenagers to fall down the elevator shaft.Madrid, Spain202020-01-04A young couple drowned in a flooded elevator in south Tel Aviv during heavy rainfall.Tel Aviv, Israel202023-03-18Two construction workers were killed when a lift carrying them collapsed from the 16th floor to the ground due to a technical error.Vijayawada, India1152023-10-26An elevator at a student dormitory in Aydın, crashed to the ground, killing student Zeren Ertaş and injuring 15 others.Aydın, Turkey152019-08-22In the lobby of a luxury high-rise building in New York City, a 30-year old man was crushed to death between an elevator car and the shaft wall when it unexpectedly plunged downwards while residents were attempting to enter and exit. Five other people who remained trapped in the car were injured.New York City, United States102012-06-25An office building elevator started moving while an employee was holding the door with his leg.Tel Aviv, Israel102014-09-14An elevator began moving at the moment an architecture student began to board, pinning him between the elevator floor and ceiling of the floor he was departing.Xiamen, China102015-12-27After disabling the elevator's safety system, an electrician working aboard the Carnival Ecstasy cruise ship was crushed to death between the elevator car and the wall of the shaft while performing maintenance.Miami, United States102018-9-24An elderly man walked into an empty elevator shaft and fell 8 meters to his death, allegedly thinking it had arrived after his son-in-law used the elevator key to see where the car was in the shaft.Qiandongnan Miao and Dong Autonomous Prefecture, China102022-09-16A 26-year-old teacher from Vasai, Palghar succumbed to injuries, in an elevator accident of the St. Mary's School, Malad, Mumbai.Mumbai, India102022-10-02A 74-year-old man was severely injured in an elevator of a housing society in Borivali, Mumbai. He died due to injuries on 11 October, 2022.Mumbai, India102023-03-19A 29-year-old man died after an open lift of a building allegedly malfunctioned in central Delhi's Kamla Market Delhi, India102023-07-18While removing asbestos from the former AT&T building in Kansas City, Jose Rodolfo Garcia-Sanches fell 14 stories down an elevator shaft to his death.Kansas City, Missouri, United States102023-08-01An elevator at Lagos Island General Hospital, Odan, crashed to the ground, killing doctor Vwaere Diaso.Lagos, Nigeria102025-08-26Eric Bartram, an electrician at a coal processing facility, was troubleshooting a malfunctioning elevator when he became pinned between it and the first-floor platform and died.Whitesville, West Virginia, United States012022-11-01A 16-year-old girl was severely injured in an elevator when her head was stuck in a small opening of a lift door.Mumbai, India012024-03-21A 67-year old man was severely injured when a hydraulic elevator plunged two floors due to a mechanical failure.Neustadt an der Aisch, Germany012026-08-03A construction worker at a Google data center was entrapped in an elevator and hospitalized with injuries.Council Bluffs, Iowa, United States012026-09-18Someone fell into an open elevator shaft from an upper floor and had to be rescued from the elevator pit; they were then taken to a hospital in serious condition.Branson, Missouri, United States
Other notable accidents On 14 December 1883, in one of the earliest documented elevator accidents, a 15-year-old boy was decapitated by an elevator at a furniture warehouse in Baltimore, Maryland. On 20 May 1905, three elevator accidents occurred in New York City within the span of a few hours, killing two men and one woman. On 28 July 1945, a USAAF bomber crashed into the Empire State Building in New York City, causing an elevator to fall 75 stories (more than 300 meters or 1,000 feet). Elevator operator Betty Lou Oliver was injured but survived. It remains the Guinness World Record for the longest fall survived in an elevator.