More than a dozen people were left “terrified” after they got stuck in a lift “plunging up and down” several floors at a time in a shopping centre.
Taris Chapman, 19, one of those trapped, decided to post about the incident, which happened at the St David’s centre in Cardiff on Saturday, on social media “to warn others of how dangerous lifts can be”.
In the public Facebook post, she said: “Myself, three of my friends and nine other people were in the lift in St David’s shopping centre this evening when it stopped working.
“This resulted in 40 minutes of the lift going to the top floor and just plunging us down seven floors with force, whilst jolting.
“Not to mention, how frightening it was as we couldn’t get hold of the helpline 10 minutes into the lift breaking.”
Chapman said the lift speaker “kept cutting off” when they were finally able to raise the helpline and “due to no signal we couldn’t even get through to the emergency services”.
“Around 20 minutes later, the fire service came and helped us get out,” she added.
“This was the most terrifying thing we have experienced and want to warn others as it was very distressing.”
Speaking to WalesOnline, Chapman and her friends said the experience was like “something from a horror film”.
“It felt like there was no control over the lift. Everyone was screaming and panicking. It felt like the cord that holds the lift wasn’t working properly,” they said.
Megan Jones, 19, and her mother Alyson Jones, 53, were also in the lift.
Posting on Facebook, Jones described the ordeal as “an absolute horrific and life-changing experience”.
She added: “Not being able to contact anyone whilst we were being thrown up and down with no way of stopping the lift was honestly the worst experience of my life.
“If there was any more than the 13 of us in there, there would have been bigger issues!”
She also complained that the shopping centre had only offered free parking to those in the lift following the incident.
A spokeswoman for South Wales Fire and Rescue Service confirmed a crew from Cardiff Central were called to the shopping centre at around 6.57pm on Saturday.
It followed reports that a “lift was stuck”.
“We obtained the lift keys and the people inside were released safely,” the spokeswoman said.
A spokeswoman for the shopping centre said the lift “malfunctioned” and that customers were unable to get out of the lift for approximately 20 minutes.
She said: “The fire brigade provided assistance to enable customers to leave the lift. The lift has since been taken out of service while the need for repair work is assessed.
“We recognise that this was a distressing experience for those involved, and, in addition to the assistance we offered at the time of the incident, we will also be reaching out to the individuals involved to offer a gesture of goodwill.”