Police Jail Workers After Chinese Woman Trapped In Elevator Dies After Weeks Of Starvation

A building maintenance crew has been detained after a woman was found dead inside an elevator that had its power improperly cut off 30 days earlier, local Chinese authorities have said.

The Gaoling district government in the north-western city of Xi’an, Shaanxi province, said on Saturday that two maintenance workers turned off the power source on 30 January in a residential building after they were called to check on a glitch. However, they failed to check if anyone was inside the elevator.

The building and elevator:

The district said the maintenance crew found a female corpse there on 1 March when they returned for repairs.

The woman was identified as a 43-year-old resident who was living by herself. Police ruled out any foul play but concluded her death was caused by the gross negligence on the part of the maintenance crew in a case of involuntary manslaughter, the government said.