I was shocked this morning when I heard about a woman who was killed in a New York elevator accident.

Suzanne Hart, a 41-year-old employee at an advertising agency, was on her way to work on the first floor of the building around 10am.  As she entered, the doors closed on her.  As the elevator began its ascent, it crushed her while pulling her up into the shaft.

The elevator was last inspected in June of 2011.  13 of the elevators in that particular building received 56 violations of New York's building code since 2001, with the last citation in 2009.  According to records, all of the violations have been resolved.

As disturbing as this seemingly unbelievable incident is, elevator accidents are a lot more common that I  had thought. In fact, there was a similar accident just last week in California.  A woman was trying to exit an elevator that had gotten stuck at California State University, when she was crushed to death.

It turns out that around 10,000 people every year suffer injuries due to elevators, and an alarming average of 27 people are killed annually.  Get the full story from ABC News here.

 

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