Uber Eats or “Full Panic”? Seattle Elevator Passengers Safe After Daring Rescue

On the night of December 12, a power outage caused three people to be stuck in an elevator hundreds of feet from an access point, the Seattle Fire Department said in a Facebook post. Rescuers responded to the 7:09 p.m. incident at a high-rise apartment building, where the three occupants were stuck near the sixth floor. Rescuers said the elevator had stopped in a “blind shaft” that didn’t have a door out. The closest rescue point was on the 21st floor, so firefighters decided to use a rope rescue platform to extract the stranded passengers. A rescuer rappelled 200 feet down the elevator shaft to reach the people, put in each in a harness and hoisted them up the shaft to safety.

Fire officials stated that no one was injured, but Facebook users shared their thoughts about the daunting rescue. Once commenter said, “200ft down..nah..I’m good..drop me down some Uber eats and a battery pack to keep my phone charged. This isn’t ‘mission impossible,’ I can wait until power comes back.” While others shared an opposite reaction, with one commentor remarking “Yikes! My worst fear! Thank heaven for heroes!” and another writing, “I’d be in full panic attack mode trapped in there.”