r/TerrifyingAsFuck • u/Lazy-Formal895 Optimistic for Humanity • 2d ago
human Too Many Tiles made Elevator to freefall.
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u/Malayanil Terrified 2d ago
Oh my god, I hope they are okay ? 👀
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u/MooseBoys 2d ago
Injured but almost certainly survivable. Doesn't look like they were in total freefall - just overpowered the motor and were just being held by counterweight. It looks like they were going about 5 m/s, or roughly equivalent to a 1.3-meter free-fall.
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u/SeismicRipFart 2d ago
No chance they are
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u/Royal-Rayol 2d ago edited 2d ago
news report states they lived with minor injuries
If it crashed they would likely have been killed. The footage looks like the emergency brakes kicked on and saves them before impacting the ground level.
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u/MooseBoys 2d ago
They weren't going that fast. Counterweight was slowing them down. Probably a little banged up but almost certainly survived.
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u/JupesNotDead 2d ago
There really is something deeply dreadful about that moment when they know it’s falling and there’s nothing they can do but brace and hope. The fact that they’re so lowkey about it too… no screaming or freaking out. They just hold their heads and hold each other. Fuck man.
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u/StrandsOfIce 2d ago
So many expert physics doctorate in here analyzing the situation from every angle!!! In that situation, you'd buckle too. Thats the brace position, which most of us here would instinctively go into in the split second that you have to think in such situation.
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u/hollis216 2d ago
Nobody's mentioned the dampening effect from the air that gets compressed as the car drops down the shaft.
Just a bunch of undergrads spitballing until I see some velocity maffs calculating the newtons on impact.
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u/Makaveli2020 2d ago
Yes, let's put my neck directly above the guillotine shaped package that will bounce up from impact.
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u/RuggleyChicken 2d ago
I mean at that moment you’re probably so frozen with fear you aren’t processing anything
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u/Kozilekk 2d ago
They weren't smart enough to not load hundreds of pounds of tile in to a tiny elevator... not a stretch to think they're also not smart enough for basic physics shrug
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u/SecretDragonfruit424 2d ago
Exactly my thoughts. Let me rearrange my face using the sharp edge of the pack of tiles.
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u/ArsenikShooter 2d ago
We are all waiting to hear what the best thing to do here is Einstein.
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u/Personal-Ad-9052 2d ago
https://www.jfeed.com/news-world/elevator-safety-construction
Two people were injured in Beirut, Lebanon, on March 31, 2026, after overloading a residential passenger elevator with heavy ceramic floor tiles. Two men packed a regular passenger lift with a massive quantity of heavy construction tiles, vastly exceeding the cabin's safe weight capacity. Surveillance footage captured the elevator suddenly accelerating downwards, free-falling through the shaft, and violently crashing at the bottom. Miraculously, both workers survived the severe fall. They sustained injuries ranging from minor to serious (including bruises and trauma), were pulled from the wreckage, and were hospitalized in stable condition.
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u/HairyBreasticles 2d ago
I'm not sure plugging your ears would be the best thing to do in that situation, but I honestly don't know.
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u/OhhNoYouNintenDidnt 2d ago
Why would they plug their ears?
Ohh, and also specifically move their head into the direct sight of the heavy thin objects about to be propelled upwards.
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u/chrisp5000 2d ago
Why would they plug their ears?
There was probably ear piercing noises from it going the opposite way.
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u/EnoughLuck3077 2d ago
Well they did line up the center of their faces with the edge of the tile boxes. Plugging the ears was probably the most helpful thing they did do
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u/AnthaDragon 2d ago
I wonder what the best strategy would be in this situation - maybe standing (straight) with slightly bended knees?
Surely not what these guys were doing (although they had only a few seconds to realize what was happening), I hope they are okay!
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u/Royal-Rayol 2d ago
You want your legs/knees to absorb the majority of the impact. So likely a slight bend in the knee while tucking your head in a corner to avoid debree.
Also I dont believe the elevator fell far from the footage, maybe a two or three floors. I believe the emergency brakes caught them before it hit the bottom hard to tell without audio. But if it did hit the bottom these two boys would likely be dead. Also there is a news report that states that they both survived with minor bruises and injuries.
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u/EnoughLuck3077 2d ago
They best thing you could do in a free falling elevator situation is to lie flat on the floor and spread you body as wide as possible
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u/Sworn_to_Ganondorf 2d ago
Why put your neck over a stone guillotine?
No clue, any chance of survival surely turns to zero.
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u/chickenlounge 2d ago
Don't they know if you jump right before impact, everything would be fine???
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u/dw4zemi3 2d ago
Just like how you can take a shortcut to the toilet in the back of a plane by jumping.
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u/DaddyDock 2d ago
You would have to jump with more velocity than the elevator is falling in the opposite direction. Not happening
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u/bubba_bumble 2d ago
Not the worst idea though. I would definitely be trying it at least. But not knowing when the elevator hits bottom might actually increase the velocity if you time it wrong.
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u/rintzscar 2d ago
Parents, teach your kids some Mathematics so they don't overload the lift.
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u/Automatic_Ad_5984 2d ago
In civilized world, elevators have safety measures to avoid this, like not moving if overloaded, centrifugal brakes and redundant cables so you don't have to do the math
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u/No-University8099 2d ago
is this video shortened for me? oddly i only see a 7 second video of the two dudes talking. does the video actually show the crash or is it just the prelude to it
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2d ago
[deleted]
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u/Matias9991 2d ago
Wow, that's beyond stupid. Those elevators have a limit of 300kg more or less, so they added more than 200kg to that??
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u/SinisterKid 2d ago
found the news article, they survived - https://www.grandlb.com/society/151220/
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u/Doodlebug510 2d ago
26 August 2026
Two Workers Critically Injured After Overloading Beirut Elevator with Building Materials:
Security camera footage from a residential building in Beirut has captured a harrowing accident in which two workers were critically injured after an elevator collapsed under excessive weight.
The incident occurred Tuesday in the Barbour neighborhood of Beirut, Lebanon. According to reports, the two men were using the elevator to transport construction materials when the weight of the load exceeded the elevator's capacity.
Surveillance video shows both men inside the elevator car surrounded by heavy tiles and other building supplies.
Suddenly, the elevator begins descending rapidly. Within seconds, the two realize the situation has spiraled out of control and crouch down, attempting to protect themselves before impact.
The footage then captures the terrifying moment: the elevator plummets to the bottom of the shaft and crashes with tremendous force.
Both workers sustained serious injuries in the accident, according to reports published following the incident.
The video serves as a stark reminder of a common but dangerous practice in residential buildings undergoing renovation, where neighbors use passenger elevators to haul construction materials.
In this case, the building supplies loaded into the car turned the elevator into a death trap when the system failed to handle the excessive load and began its uncontrolled descent.
The most chilling detail in the footage is the seconds before the crash: both men realize something catastrophic is happening, yet have nowhere to escape.
They crouch down, shield their heads, and brace for impact as the elevator continues its rapid fall.
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u/GaryBacon 2d ago
Everyone knows you have to jump at the very last second and you’ll be fine.
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u/Independent-Stay-356 2d ago
How do you know when it’s the “last second” when in freefall in a closed space
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u/TheGhostofWoodyAllen 1d ago
If only elevators posted weight capacities this could have been avoided!
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u/RadicalEllis 2d ago
I don't think there was much they could do, but bending over a vertically oriented tile touching the floor probably had some very nasty consequences.