Downtown Emporia elevator's cable snapped. It fell about 10 feet, injuring 8 occupants.
Eight people got into an elevator Saturday in downtown Emporia.
Then, the cable snapped.
Those people suffered injuries that weren't life-threatening when that elevator plunged about 10 feet to the building's ground floor, said Emporia Fire Department Capt. Ryan Schmidt.
The occupants were taken to an Emporia hospital with injuries that ranged in severity from mild to moderate, and included broken bones, he said. Their names haven't been released.
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The Emporia Gazette reported the building's former owner, Lynn Knechtel, said the elevator was always intended for freight, meaning people should not have been inside of it, and that a sign was posted in the building for years stating that fact.
The accident occurred about 12:45 p.m. Saturday on the back side of 504½ Commercial, where an apartment complex is located above a commercial building, Schmidt said.
Firefighters arrived to find the door of the elevator had already been opened, he said.
Tim Hrenchir can be reached at threnchir@gannett.com or 785-213-5934.
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Downtown Emporia elevator plunges about 10 feet due to snapped cable
