VIP lift in Kerala Assembly, with Ministers inside, collapses

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM 10/04/2009----- Kerala Legislative Assembly,Thiruvananthapuram ............. Photo: C_Ratheesh Kumar NICAID:110654589

The VIP lift in the Legislative Assembly complex on Friday morning collapsed when three Ministers were going to their offices.

The incident occurred around 8.40 a.m. after the House disbursed for the day as mark of respect to former Supreme Court judge, V.R. Krishna Iyer who passed away on Thursday in Kochi.

Minister for Industries P.K. Kunhalikutty, Minister for Public Works V.K. Ebrahim Kunju and Minister for Food and Civil Supplies Anoop Jacob were proceeding from the first level, where the House is located, to their offices in the second floor. The personal staff of the Ministers were also in the lift at the time of the incident.

“The lift crashed all of a sudden and came down. We had a narrow escape. Mr. Anoop suffered injuries in the knee. It seems the steel rope gave away”, Mr. Kunju told

The Hindu . The lift used solely for the movement of VIPs in the Assembly complex had earlier also developed snags.