13 people trapped in an elevator for 1 hour on Christmas Eve at Taiwan’s most expensive six-star Mandarin Oriental

▲ Hailed as Taiwan’s most luxurious, the Mandarin Oriental Hotel. (Photo / Reporter Chen Zi-Yin)

Reported by Chen Rui-Zhong / Taipei

The Mandarin Oriental Hotel, hailed as “Taiwan’s most luxurious hotel,” reportedly had 13 customers trapped in an elevator for over an hour around 9:30 PM on Christmas Eve, December 24, 2014. Among them was a child. They were finally rescued around 10:47 PM after firefighters broke open the elevator doors, bringing an end to an unsettling night.

The Taipei Mandarin Oriental Hotel officially opened on May 18, 2013, featuring 303 rooms. Standard room types start from 17 ping (approximately 56 square meters), with nightly rates beginning at NT$16,000. The 114 ping presidential suite, the largest guest room in any Taiwanese tourist hotel, is priced at NT$600,000 per night. As a result, it has been dubbed Taiwan’s most luxurious hotel and even earned the reputation of a “six-star hotel.”

Related reports:Exclusive / Taipei Mandarin Oriental Hotel Christmas Eve horror — 13 trapped in elevator for 60 minutes

According to an exclusive report by ETtoday News Cloud, the elevator incident involved 12 adults and 1 child who were staying at the hotel. When the elevator they were in reached the B1 floor, it malfunctioned and became stuck. Although they used the intercom to report the issue, the hotel only assigned one foreign employee to manage the scene and did not notify the police or fire department. It was only after the guests dialed 1999 to report the incident that the Taipei City Fire Department arrived to carry out a rescue. All guests were safely evacuated by 10:47 PM.

▲ Even the elevators at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel are designed with style. (Photo / Reporter Chen Rui-Zhong, not the actual elevator involved in the incident)

In response on the evening of January 13, the Mandarin Oriental Hotel stated that at the time of the incident, the hotel promptly notified Schindler elevator engineers to the scene for rescue and arranged for multiple staff members to stay in contact with the passengers inside the elevator to ensure their well-being. It was not just one person managing the situation. Since the passengers had already called 1999 themselves, the hotel did not proactively contact the fire department.

The Mandarin Oriental Hotel also noted in a low-key manner that all elevators in the hotel undergo regular maintenance and servicing to ensure safety. This was an isolated, first-time incident, and the hotel expressed deep regret. Fortunately, all 13 guests were safely rescued. After the incident, the hotel treated the guests to a meal as a gesture of apology.