Lift crash at Kerry hotel a ‘horror movie’ court hears – RTE – RTE.ie

Updated / Tuesday, 28 Feb 2017 23:11

The aftermath of a lift crashing four floors into the basement of a Co Kerry hotel causing life-changing injuries to the family inside it was like a "horror movie", a court has heard.

Five members of the Meehan family from Co Meath were inside the lift at theKillarney Plaza Hotel in July 2011 when it plummetedto the underground car park.

It was up to 15 minutes before staff at the hotelrealised the lift had crashed tothe basement and the doors were prised open.

It took anotherhour before ambulancesarrivedand one of the injured had to be cut out of the lift.

The details emerged duringthe trial ofEllickson Engineering, the limited company which installed the Daldoss Easy Life Liftat the hotelseven years previously.

The company, based inKilmurry Waterford,is being tried for breach of the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act for its work on the lift.

It is alleged the companyfailed to install the lift in a way that was safe and not a risk, that the installationwas not up to standard and the workmanship was shoddy.

The trial itself was "a most unusual case" and wasthe first of its kind in Kerry, the jury was told.

The three Meehan brothers and two wives were in Kilarneyfor theircousin's wedding.

They had got into the lift, which could accommodate six people, when there was a "catastrophic failure".

"There was a noise, a bang. Something was clearly wrong," said Andrew Meehan.

The lift fell a few feet and came to a sudden stop, he said.There wasa sound like a cable straining, a bang and then freefall, he said.

"We were hanging there. The lift was detached, rotating. The next thing there was a bang and we were gone," he said.

Mr Meehan suffered convoluted fractures to his left tibia, a broken right tibia and crushed right heel.

His wife Patricia O'Leary'sdislocated bone broke through the skin and was twisted at an unnatural angle.

Ms O'Learytold how the couple had two young children who suffered because of their parents' injuries.

Her sister-in-lawJenny was hyperventilating and in shock.

"I'm in chronic pain on a daily basis. My mobility is not great and this has had a huge effect on me and my family," Andrew Meehansaid.

Glass in the lift shattered along with all the mirrors, the ceiling and panels came crashing down.

Only one light was working and they had no mobile coverage in the basement. The lift's phone was broken.

Kevin Meehansuffered broken vertebraeand fractured left ankle and right heel.

Hotel staff placed him on a laundry trolley to give him somewhere to lie down until the ambulance arrived.

Paul Meehansaid the force of the impact when the lift hit the end of the shaft was massive.

When he heard the lift snap,followed by itsweightlessness his life flashed in front of him, he added.

It was like "living in a horror movie", he said as he attempted to attend to everyone and also raise the alarm.

It was 15 minutes of shouting before anyone arrived.

The company has not appeared in court and did not senda representative.

As a limited company, the matter would proceed"as though the company had entered a plea of not guilty," prosecutors said.

"Thetrial mustproceed," Tom Ricefor the Director of Public Prosecutionssaid, adding that thepresumption of innocence still applied.

The matter had been investigated by the Health and Safety Authority, not the garda, and a large number of technical witnesses are expected to be called.

The trial, presided over by Judge Thomas E O'Donnell, continues.

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Lift crash at Kerry hotel a 'horror movie' court hears - RTE - RTE.ie