Hospital worker dies after freight elevator traps her head in Nashik, India.
NEWS:
A 50-year-old contract hospital worker died after her head became trapped in a small freight elevator at Dr. Vasantrao Pawar Medical Hospital, College and Research Centre in Nashik, Maharashtra, India.
The woman was identified as Jyoti Shivaji Ahire. Police said she was a contract employee at the hospital. Other reported accounts said she worked in the surgery department or operation theatre area, where the small freight lift was used to move medical or surgical equipment.
The fatal workplace accident happened on Monday, April 27, 2026. Reports differed slightly on the exact time. One police-linked account placed the incident around 00:10:30 a.m., while another local account said it happened around noon.
CCTV footage from inside the hospital shows Ahire near the freight lift opening. The video shows her leaning into the lift area before the platform descends. Her head becomes trapped, and another hospital worker quickly notices the accident and rushes for help.
The footage also shows multiple staff members gathering near the lift after the accident. They try to free her, but she is not released immediately. Reported accounts said she remained trapped for several minutes before being rescued.
Police said Ahire had put her head inside the lift area to check whether the lift was moving when it suddenly came down. The impact caused severe head injuries. A later police account said she also suffered spinal injuries after the descending dumbwaiter trapped her neck.
Ahire was taken to the intensive care unit at the same hospital after she was freed. Police later said she died during treatment on Monday evening. Her death was formally recorded late at night, according to the police account reported after the incident.
The equipment involved has been described in different ways in public reports. Initial accounts called it a small freight elevator or dumbwaiter lift. A later clarification attributed to the medical college said it was not a conventional passenger elevator, but a hoist trolley used to carry drums of surgical equipment.
The hospital administration said a government electrical engineer inspected the system and found no evidence of a technical fault or mechanical failure. The administration also said Ahire crossed a designated safety line and looked into the trolley’s path without following operational guidelines. That account reflects the hospital’s position, not an independent finding made public through a court record.
Police registered a case at Adgaon police station after a complaint from the family. Earlier reporting said the case was initially registered under Section 125(B) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, which deals with acts endangering life or personal safety. After Ahire’s death, police said the case would be converted to sections related to causing death by negligence.
The available record confirms that Ahire was critically injured when the freight lift descended while she was leaning into its path, that the accident was captured on CCTV, that staff tried to rescue her, that she was taken to the ICU, and that she died from the injuries sustained in the incident.
The publicly available reports do not establish any criminal responsibility by a specific person. They also do not include a publicly released technical inspection report, a formal labor safety finding, or a court filing naming an accused person.
News story written by DarkGore.
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