By Carolyn Quek & Jessica Lim
A MECHANICAL fault with the Tiger Sky Tower attraction on
Sentosa Friday afternoon left 36 guests, including three elderly
people and eight children, stranded 30m in the air for more than
two hours.
The Sky Tower, introduced in 2004, reaches 110m into the sky. It
ferries up to 72 passengers to the top via an enclosed,
air-conditioned cabin, also known as a gondola. The seven-minute
ride affords them commanding views of Sentosa, Singapore, the
Southern Islands and parts of Indonesia and Malaysia. Running from
9am to 9pm, it averages about 60 rides daily.
In a joint press statement on Friday night, the attraction's
operator Sky Tower, Sentosa Leisure Group - which runs the daily
operations of the tower - and the Singapore Civil Defence Force
(SCDF) said the fault had occurred at 12.15pm. The passengers were
finally brought down at 2.40pm. No injuries were reported.
The revolving gondola was on its way down, five minutes into the
seven-minute ride, when it stalled. A Sentosa Leisure Group
employee who operates the ride from inside the cabin then contacted
the ground staff.
While ground staff tried resetting the ride, engineers made
their way up the tower to try and rectify the problem. But when it
took longer than the time stipulated in the Sky Tower's emergency
plan, the authorities were called in. The SCDF and police reached
the scene slightly after 1pm.
The SCDF deployed a team of eight elite Disaster Assistance and
Rescue Team (Dart) personnel. While three officers were put on
standby, five Dart officers climbed up the tower via a ladder
inside it.
Said Sky Tower assistant general manager Lee Su Wei: '(The
passengers) were slightly shaken but most of them were fine.'
Bottled water and biscuits, already kept inside the cabin in case
of emergencies, were distributed. Other emergency supplies, such as
portable toilets, first aid kits and drawing books were also
available. The ride was eventually restarted after more than two
hours.
