A worker has been hospitalized after the elevator he was working on caused him to fall several floors. Emergency rescuers responded to a call from Southern States located on Fields Street in Farmville, North Carolina (N.C.). Upon their arrival to the accident scene they described seeing the victim as sitting up, but still inside the elevator.
Investigators are still figuring out exactly what may have caused the elevator to drop suddenly down the 50 foot shaft. News station WITN was on the scene and have since discovered that many people familiar with the Southern States building have mentioned it is very old and needed lots of updating. According to official sources the elevator itself has passed an inspection fairly recently. There are no new indications as to the exact nature of the workers injuries at this time.
As mentioned the man was an employee of Southern States in Farmville, North Carolina (N.C.) and is still in the hospital from his injuries due to the malfunctioning elevator. A full investigation is being carried out according to Steve Patterson, Vice President of Corporate Marketing and Communications for Southern States. The elevator is one that carries people, and something caused it to malfunction, Patterson said.
Pitt County responders reported that they received a call for help at 11 p.m. Wednesday. Another employee at the Farmville site of Southern States, mentioned to WITN that the worker was freed after getting trapped in the elevator, and crews took him to Pitt County Memorial Hospital. The name of the worker has not been released, and company officials said they did not know the extent of his injuries. Employing close to 40 people at its Farmville location, Southern States is responsible for various products and related services to the animal feed-seed industry. It has been shown that the elevator was originally installed in 1991 and was inspected a half year ago showing no violations at the time.