13 Trapped In Reliance Mall Lift In Surat, rescued after one hour

SURAT : A late-night outing at Reliance Mall in Surat nearly turned into a nightmare when 13 youths were trapped inside a lift for around 45 minutes after it suddenly stalled at Basement-1. The incident exposed serious concerns raised by the youths about the mall’s emergency response and lift safety arrangements.

The youths had watched a late-night show of Mirzapur before entering the service lift around 2:45 am. The lift suddenly stopped while moving to the basement, leaving everyone trapped inside.

The basement had poor mobile network coverage, making it difficult for the youths to call for help. One of them, Pareshbhai Surti, managed to get a signal and contacted the Surat Municipal Corporation fire control room at 2:56 am.

A fire brigade team led by Sub-Fire Officer Jignesh Tandel rushed to the mall. Fire personnel initially had to identify which of the mall’s four lifts had stalled.

Three lifts appeared to be working. The fourth was found stuck at Basement-1, with voices coming from inside.

The situation became tense as the trapped youths complained of suffocation and panic. Two young men reportedly became extremely distressed. Some youths who had received fire safety training helped calm others until rescuers arrived.

Fire personnel used keys provided by the technical maintenance staff along with firefighting equipment to open the lift doors. After a rescue operation lasting around 20 to 25 minutes, all 13 youths were brought out safely.

Pareshbhai alleged that the lift alarm continued ringing for nearly 45 minutes, but no security guard or mall employee came to their assistance.

“We were trapped inside for nearly 45 minutes. There was no network in the basement, and two youths became extremely panicked due to suffocation,” Pareshbhai said.

He also questioned the absence of a visible lift capacity warning and demanded strict action against the Reliance Mall authorities.

The fire department said the lift may have stalled because of overloading or a technical malfunction. No injuries or casualties were reported.