A North Carolina couple missed their wedding reception after they were stuck in a hotel elevator for several hours.
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Victoria and Panav Jha were ready to celebrate their nuptials at the Grand Bohemian Hotel when the elevator became stuck between floors. As the Daily Mail reported, Victoria’s sister and three other wedding guests were in the elevator with them. The group waited hours for rescue from the elevator, but their reception ended when the Charlotte Fire Department rescued them.
Panav said he initially thought the elevator only stopped for a few seconds until he and Victoria noticed the elevator was slightly open. “When it first happened, I thought it had stopped for a few seconds. It’ll restart. And then we noticed that the door was just slightly ajar. We got up maybe five feet, and then boom, the doors kind of stuck,’ he explained to CNN.
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‘Then the doors started to open, so I could see the concrete wall right in front of me, and I could see the concrete wall behind me, and I was like, that’s not normal.’
However, the couple was happy that they were together despite the circumstances. During their rescue, firefighters attached them to a harness so they could safely climb through an opening at the top of the elevator. ‘They harnessed me up, got me in full gear, and pulled me up four floors with a fireman,’ Victoria explained.
The Charlotte Fire Department congratulated the couple in a Facebook post, detailing how the rescue happened, and Panav compared the situation to being in a ‘James Bond’ movie.
‘First, congratulations to Mr. and Mrs. Jha on your wedding day. Although Charlotte Fire wasn’t formally invited, we weren’t exactly wedding crashers either. Early this morning, our crews responded to an elevator entrapment. When Charlotte Fire crews arrived, 6 people were trapped in a hotel elevator between the first and second floor. Firefighters rigged equipment to hoist those trapped up out of the elevator to the best access point on the fourth floor. After the first person was recused, she said, “please get my sister out next, she’s the one in the wedding dress.” All 6 who were pulled to safety were part of the Jha wedding party. Thankfully, no one required medical attention. Mr. and Mrs. Jha, we hope today is the start of a long and happy life together.
Well done to our responding crews, Ladder 1, 4, Engine 1, 2, 4, 11, 42, Rescue 11 and Safety 1.’
Victoria was only upset about missing her other wedding guests and saying goodbye to them at the end of the night. ‘We were not able to celebrate or do the last kisses or goodbyes. And that’s what put the damper on everything. That’s how the wedding night had to end,’ she further explained.
The fire department’s Facebook followers also left a message for the couple and thanked the men for their service.
‘Ok, Charlotte Fire, I always like to read about you . . . but this tops it all. Thanks for your service and best wishes to the couple for a lifetime of memories.’