Durban — A group of women were rescued after almost two hours when they got stuck in a lift in a mall in northern KwaZulu-Natal on Tuesday.
uMlalazi Local Municipality spokesperson Nonhlanhla Jele said mayor Queen T Xulu applauded the swift reaction by the local Fire and Rescue team following the jamming of a lift in The Atrium shopping centre in Eshowe central business district.
“The victims were rescued with the assistance of emergency services and one of the defence department workers, Staff Sergeant Moholo. Moholo is part of the Health Outreach Programme rolled out by the Department of Defence in local schools and communities.”
uMlalazi Fire Chief Officer Xolani Blose said the incident was unfortunate and could have been avoided by placing notices warning customers not to use lifts during scheduled load-shedding times.
Xulu assured the locals her municipality was giving this incident the prioritised attention it deserved.
“While we are going to robustly engage the centre authorities on the precautionary measures that could have been exercised, we also urge the community to exercise caution whenever they intend to use lifts. Our emergency reaction units will be on standby to ensure the safety of the locals,” Xulu said.
On Wednesday, stage 2 load shedding will be implemented at 5am to 4pm, followed by stage 3 load shedding at 4pm to 5am. A further update will be published as soon as any significant changes occur.
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