Hanoi: Haunted by waiting for the elevator in a billion-dollar apartment building, walking for days until your legs are sore

(Dan Tri) - After the report of Dan Tri newspaper, two broken elevators in CT8A building, Dai Thanh apartment building (Thanh Tri, Hanoi) have been temporarily repaired and put back into operation to help people travel more conveniently.

After the article "Hanoi: Residents stuck in elevator, many people climbed dozens of floors" at CT8A building, Dai Thanh apartment building (Ta Thanh Oai commune, Thanh Tri, Hanoi), Dan Tri reporter returned here after 1 day to record the lives of the residents.

On the morning of March 21, the two broken elevators of building CT8A were repaired and put into normal operation.

On the morning of March 21, two broken elevators in building CT8A, Dai Thanh apartment building were back in operation (Photo: Tran Thanh Cong).

Ms. Thu (a resident of CT8A building) said that on the morning of March 21, her family did not have to take the stairs from the 21st floor down, the waiting time was only about 5 minutes. Thanks to 5 elevators operating normally, the overload situation has been significantly improved compared to previous days.

"Residents of the building are very happy that the two broken elevators have been fixed to facilitate the residents. Thank you Dan Tri newspaper for reporting on the disrupted lives of the residents here.

It is known that this is only a temporary fix. The management board will organize a bidding, then the contractor will buy components to completely repair it," said Ms. Thu.

Currently, the elevator - where the incident occurred, trapping more than 10 people on the evening of March 19 - is operating normally.

On the morning of March 21, some residents living on lower floors still chose to take the stairs to avoid waiting (Photo: Tran Thanh Cong).

According to Dan Tri reporters, some households living on lower floors still choose to take the stairs to avoid long waits.

"My house is on a low floor so I walk down. If I wait for the elevator, it takes another 5-7 minutes, and if the elevator is full, it's very difficult to wait," said a resident.

Residents here said that the building management board has posted additional recommendations to limit the number of people using the elevator. Specifically, the freight elevator can carry a maximum of 10 people/trip (if it is a child, it can carry 12 people/trip), the passenger elevator can carry a maximum of 8 people/trip (if it is a child, it can carry 10 people/trip).

Anxious, haunted waiting for the elevator

Having moved to CT8A building for 5 years, Mr. Thai (born in 1992) expressed his concerns about transportation, especially the 2 damaged elevators that were slow to be repaired, disrupting the lives of residents.

On days when there are only 3 elevators in operation, this man has to wait 10-15 minutes to get down to the first floor. During rush hours such as 7am-7:30am or 5:30pm-6pm, the waiting time can be longer.

"Sometimes, when I take the elevator, I hear a clicking sound, it feels very scary. When 2 elevators are broken, the remaining elevators are constantly overloaded, making residents worry about the rapid deterioration of the situation even though the house price here has increased 2-3 times compared to when they bought it," Mr. Thai expressed.

Waiting for the elevator at CT8A apartment building on the evening of March 20 (Photo: Tran Thanh Cong).

With a worried mentality, for many days now, Mr. Thai and his wife have not dared to let their children go to the playground for fear of an accident that could happen when taking the elevator when it is overloaded.

"We prioritize safety so our child only plays in the hallway. He really wants to go down to the yard but we are very worried," he shared.

According to Mr. Thai, the management board has notified residents about collecting money to repair the two elevators, but many households do not agree. This man believes that at this time, the top priority is to repair the elevators to facilitate travel and ensure the safety of residents.

"In the immediate future, we need to focus on thoroughly repairing the broken elevators, then hold a meeting between residents, the management board and the management board to review the loopholes in the process so that the situation of broken elevators for weeks does not happen again, affecting the lives of households," said Mr. Thai.

The elevator - where an incident occurred that trapped many people on the evening of March 19 - has resumed operation (Photo: Tran Thanh Cong).

Living on the 5th floor of CT8A apartment building, for the past 2 weeks, Ms. L's family's life has also been affected when 2 broken elevators were slow to be repaired.

The elevator wait time sometimes lasted 15-20 minutes, and the woman in her 70s often had to walk from the first floor to her apartment, exhausted and out of breath.

"After reaching the 4th floor, I had to stop to exercise a bit because I was sweating, my heart was pounding, and I couldn't breathe," said Ms. L.

Every morning, the children in the family have to wake up 10-15 minutes earlier to avoid being late for work. Recently, Mrs. L's family has limited going down to the common yard, unless absolutely necessary.

It is known that Mrs. L.'s grandchild was one of the people trapped in the elevator on the afternoon of March 19 for more than an hour. That evening, the grandchild appeared scared after being in a cramped space for so long, and his parents had to constantly encourage him.

The 62-year-old woman declared: "Only take the elevator after the elevators are repaired, to ensure safety."

While the two broken elevators were being repaired, Ms. L. felt frustrated with life in the apartment building, due to the inconvenience of commuting. "I was worried that the same thing would happen again," Ms. L. lamented.

After work, despite being very tired, Ms. Tr. (resident of CT8A) chose to walk up to her apartment to avoid the crowded scene in the elevator.

"Before, even if I had to wait a long time, I still took the elevator. Recently, I choose to walk because every time I get in the elevator, adults and children stand crowded together, making me feel uneasy," Ms. Tr. shared on the afternoon of March 20.

In addition to the inconvenience of traveling, she also worries about her father's life. He had to go to the emergency room due to complications after gastrointestinal surgery, and can only move around in a wheelchair and cannot use stairs.

On the evening of March 20, after walking from the garage to the first floor, Ms. Tr. will continue walking to the apartment because she is afraid of the crowded scene (Photo: Tran Thanh Cong).

"My family had to wait 15 minutes to get into the elevator to take my father to the emergency room. The whole family was worried that if the elevator was broken for a long time, my father might not make it to the hospital in time," Ms. Tr. shared.

Not only Ms. Tr., many residents reported the situation of "fighting for space" in the elevator. Some people have the habit of walking up to the 4th or 5th floor to catch the elevator. When the elevator moves down to the 1st floor, other residents do not dare to step in because the space is too small.

"Standing downstairs waiting for my turn, when the elevator arrived it was packed with people, feeling very frustrated and discouraged," a resident shared.

On the morning of March 20, speaking with Dan Tri reporter, Mr. Pham Hai Hau, Vice Chairman of Ta Thanh Oai Commune People's Committee (Thanh Tri District, Hanoi) said that the government is working with the management board of Dai Thanh apartment building about the incident of people protesting on the evening of March 19.

According to Mr. Hau, on the evening of March 19, residents of buildings CT8A, CT8B and CT8C went down to the apartment lobby to protest the elevator's constant breakdown, affecting people's lives.

According to the Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Ta Thanh Oai Commune, there are currently 3 damaged elevators in Dai Thanh apartment building, including CT8A, CT8B and CT8C. Every time they are broken, the management board informs residents to pay for elevator repairs, causing residents to be upset and the repairs are delayed, affecting people's lives.

Speaking further with reporters, Mr. Hau said that at around 5:30 p.m. on March 19, at building CT8A, the elevator was jammed due to the large number of people entering the elevator at the same time.

"There was no case of falling off the elevator as spread on social networks, there was only one case of getting stuck in the elevator on the afternoon of March 19. At that time, there were about 20 people including children and the elderly in the elevator, however, after about 5 minutes of receiving the report, the Management Board arrived at the scene, coordinated with other forces to get everyone out," said Mr. Hau.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/doi-song/ha-noi-am-anh-cho-thang-may-o-chung-cu-tien-ty-cuoc-bo-ra-chan-nhieu-ngay-20250321112145798.htm