Thiruvananthapuram: Congress leader Shashi Tharoor was briefly trapped inside a lift at a private hotel in Kerala on Friday before being rescued by fire and rescue personnel.
The incident occurred at the hotel where the Congress MP had arrived to attend the installation ceremony of the Rotary Club of Trivandrum East in Thiruvananthapuram.
Visuals from the scene showed Tharoor smiling after the rescue as he emerged from the lift along with several others, as reported by NDTV.
Tharoor and the others inside the lift were freed by fire and rescue personnel. Speaking to reporters after the incident, the Congress leader said everyone was safe.
“The lift got stuck, we tried every means of getting out but nothing worked. We called the Fire and Rescue Services, they rescued us…Don’t worry we are all okay,” Tharoor said.
An officer at the Thiruvananthapuram fire station said rescue personnel received a call at 7:37 pm about Tharoor being trapped in the hotel life. A team was then rushed to the spot immediately.
Fire personnel used a hydraulic spreader to open the lift door, safely rescuing everyone inside.
As he stepped out, Tharoor thanked the fire officials. “Thank you to all of you. Well done. You have done a good job,” he said.
He later told reporters that lift mechanics were first called but they were unable to open the doors, while hotel staff also could do little. At that point, they decided to contact the fire and rescue services.
“I have a good opinion about the fire and rescue services. The officers here did a good job. They reached here within five minutes. Very good and thank you very much,” he said.
He said they could have shared tea before leaving if time had allowed, but the officers politely declined and then departed after shaking hands with Tharoor.
The Congress leader later honoured the fire and rescue personnel for their prompt response, ANI reported.