One of the six elevators at the students dormitory of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (AUTH), northern Greece, collapsed on Monday night. It was a miracle that no student was inside and no injuries were reported. The company responsible TUV AUSTRIA said in a statement that the elevator at AUTH was operating without the required inspection certificate for 2 years.
The fall of one of the six elevators that serve the residents of the dormitory occurred at a time – 9 pm – that is used by many students returning to their rooms.
A few minutes before the collapse, a student had reportedly entered the elevator, and got scared that it was not working properly as it stopped abruptly between two floors, resulting in her slightly hitting her foot.
“This particular elevator has often problems. I was carrying supermarket bags and it started going up and down but I didn’t pay much attention. From 1st to 2nd floor it came to a sudden stop. there was a bang and I hit my foot lightly falling on the supermarket shopping. It stopped for a few seconds and when it reached my floor I got out. I heard plaster falling and dust came in from the elevator door. I informed the secretariat and after half an hour it fell,” the affected student told media.
Almost half an hour later, the elevator fell causing panic among the students, who heard the deafening noise and called the Fire Service.
Constantina Papagianni, who lives in the 3rd residence, said that it was 9 o’ clock on Monday night, a deafening sound was heard.
“It was like something was falling apart. Smoke arose which was probably dust after all, and the adjacent elevator also went out of service. Luckily no one was inside. The fire department came and when they opened it, whole pieces fell.”
The students emphasized “we live by luck. In the dormitories, the situation is problematic as an elevator has fallen again, while we also had a tree fall in the 4th Dormitory Unit. “Our lives as well as the personnel’s lives are in danger,” the students told local media thesstoday.gr
They stressed that the elevators in the 3rd dormitory of the AUTH where 300 students reside, have often problems.
TUV AUSTRIA
The elevator at AUTH was operating without the required inspection certificate for 2 years, TUV AUSTRIA, an approved elevator inspection organization, said in a statement, according to daily ethnos.gr.
“TUV AUSTRIA, an approved elevator inspection organization with a leading position in the Greek market in safety inspections, points out that the elevator in question was inspected by an experienced company inspector on 03/03/2022 and on 09/12/2023,” the company said in a statement.
“However, none of the said inspections led to the issuance of an annual inspection certificate, in accordance with the requirements of Greek legislation, and therefore, the elevator operated for at least two years without the said prescribed inspection certificate,” TUV AUSTRIA added.
At the same time, it called for an investigation into the serious incident.
The Rector of AUTH, Professor Charalambos Feidas had immediately summoned the contractor company that has undertaken the maintenance of the dormitories residence elevators.
The Fire Service ordered a preliminary investigation with the aim to examine potential charges of reckless endangerment and construction code violations by assessing the circumstances of the incident, including the elevator’s last maintenance date and any unsafe materials used.
All elevators in the university’s dormitories will also be inspected for maintenance issues.
, northern Greece, collapsed on){kind=link}