Key Highlights
- Incident:A service lift cable failure occurred at a construction site in Dubai.
- Injuries:Four workers were treated for various injuries following the incident.
- Investigation:Dubai Municipality has launched an inquiry into the mechanical failure.
Dubai, United Arab Emirates—A heavy service hoist dropped multiple floors down an open internal shaft at a high-rise commercial construction site early Thursday morning, prompting an immediate deployment of municipal rescue teams and safety inspectors. The mechanical failure occurred around 8:15 a.m. local time as the hoist was transferring construction materials and site personnel between upper structural decks.
The primary steel hoisting cable snapped near the top pulley block, sending the metal enclosure dropping past three floor levels before secondary emergency brake pawls engaged against the vertical guide rails. The sudden deceleration slammed the cabin against the interior concrete shaft walls, shattering lower mounting brackets and scattering construction supplies across the shaft base.
"We heard a sharp metallic pop followed by the screeching sound of emergency brakes grinding against steel," said site ironworker Hassan Mahmoud, who was standing on an adjacent staging platform. "The entire central core shuddered violently, and dust poured out of the shaft openings on every floor."
Civil Defence rescue units and site medical personnel deployed specialized winch gear down the central shaft to reach the damaged enclosure. Rescuers stabilized the suspended cabin with temporary steel cables before extracting workers trapped inside and lowering them to ground-level medical units.
Emergency medical teams treated four workers at the scene for impact trauma, severe shock, and lacerations before transferring critical casualties to a regional hospital under police escort. Municipal police cordoned off the lower tower perimeter, holding all construction operations while site engineers inspected the hoist framework.
Dubai Municipality building control officers launched a forensic inquiry into the site’s equipment maintenance logs, focusing on load-testing certificates and cable tension inspection records. Safety officials ordered a temporary shutdown of all external and internal hoisting systems across the entire multi-story development pending structural audits.
"Our immediate priority is securing the damaged lift cabin and verifying the mechanical integrity of remaining shaft guides," stated a Dubai Civil Defence Operations Coordinator during a briefing at the site boundary. "We have initiated a joint investigation with municipal safety engineers to determine the exact cause of the cable shear."
Heavy recovery teams remain inside the central core securing the hoist assembly, while municipal inspectors review site equipment logs.
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