Jammed elevator door in Secretariat traps health minister, door broken for rescue

A jammed door of a newly installed lift in the Secretariat had Health Minister Mohammed Nasim trapped inside for 30 minutes.

The minister was rescued by Fire Service personnel, who had to break the door of the elevator on Monday to free him from it.

Fire Service Senior Station Officer Khandakar Abdul Jalil told bdnews24.com that fire service personnel rushed in from their headquarters on getting the news and broke the door on the second floor and got the minister out to safety.

"A total of seven people, including the liftman, were trapped along with the minister. We believe an electrical malfunction may have caused the fiasco," he said.

An official who was an eyewitness said that Minister Nasim boarded the lift at about 4pm to depart from his Secretariat office.

The lift stopped functioning after it got to the second floor from the third floor, he said.

"When staffers and officials from the ministry could not help the minister to get out, the Fire Service at the Secretariat was pressed into action. They were joined by a team of Fire Service workers from their headquarters", he said.

He said that after frantic attempts lasting at least half an hour, the minister and others trapped within were rescued by breaking the door.

An on duty police officer snatched away the mobile phone of a bdnews24.com correspondent who had clicked pictures of the minister emerging from the lift.

The health ministry’s Information Officer Parikshit Chowdhury later returned the phone to the correspondent after having the pictures deleted.

Asked why such a step needed to be taken, he said, "The minister is a heart disease patient. It was not a right thing to snap the photos at such a time. You do news. That's fine. Do so. But also write about who installed the lift."

Although it was ascertained that the lift had been installed a few months ago, no information from officials could be obtained as to who was responsible for its installation.