Pallavaram biriyani shop employee killed as lift cable snaps

CHENNAI: A 70-year-old woman employee of a biriyani shop in Pallavaram died after the lift she was travelling in crashed on Monday morning.

The deceased, identified as Mumtaz, was working at a popular biriyani outlet on GST Road, Pallavaram. The shop operates from the ground floor and two upper floors.

According to police, Mumtaz arrived at the shop for work around 10 am on Monday. She was travelling in the lift from the ground floor to an upper floor when its inner cable reportedly snapped, causing the lift to plummet and leaving Mumtaz trapped inside. She suffered severe crush injuries and died on the spot.

The panic-stricken employees alerted the Pallavaram police personnel who reached the spot and recovered Mumtaz's body and sent it to the Tambaram District Government Hospital for postmortem examination.

The Pallavaram police have registered a case and launched an investigation. The shop's owners and personnel responsible for maintaining the lift are being questioned as part of the probe. Police are also examining the circumstances surrounding the lift's cable failure and its maintenance records.