Last night, an elevator carrying 14 members of the Penn Sirens — a female vocal ensemble — fell in the Sansom Place West building. The elevator fell from the lobby to the subbasement.
No one was injured in the fall. Some of the Penn Sirens, who did not manage to fit into the elevator, notified a lobby security guard, who contacted the police and fire departments as well as the college house manager.
According to the Incident Report Log at Sansom Place West, the elevator, P197, fell at 10:25 p.m. By 10:50 p.m., everyone was out of the elevator, and at 11:15 p.m., the log reports that the elevator had been fixed by building staff. The log cited the cause as “overcapacity.” The elevator’s weight limit is posted at 2500 lbs.
“We were all just in shock,” said Catherine Haak, an Engineering senior and Penn Sirens president. “It was a controlled fall.”
Though there were 14 students in the elevator, Haak says they were “well under” the posted weight limit.
The Philadelphia Fire Department came to the scene for rescue. They arrived within half an hour of the fall, according to Penn Sirens member and Nursing sophomore Nora Lueth.
Penn Facilities and Real Estate Services has not yet responded for comment. Haak added that neither the Philadelphia Fire Department nor the house manager offered an explanation for the incident.
By Sunday, all three elevators servicing the building were operational and in use.
A previous version of this article stated that Penn Sirens is an a capella group, they are a vocal ensemble.
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