A family visiting Auckland's Sky Tower at the weekend have been left "traumatised" after a "nightmarish ordeal" saw them trapped in a lift for nearly an hour struggling to breathe.
Sampath Munasinghe told Newshub his family, along with another family of friends, were excited to visit the landmark and take in its sights about 7pm on Saturday.
But instead what transpired has left them "deeply disappointed".
The group boarded the lift shortly after 7pm, but Munasinghe said soon after it started to go up they came to an abrupt halt at the 35th floor. The small display panel indicated an "out of service" error.
"Initially, we thought it was a minor glitch, but it soon became evident that we were stuck," he said.
"We used the emergency button to alert security, who were initially unaware of the situation. They assured us a technician would be dispatched, but after 10 minutes with no resolution, we called again, only to be told the technician was offsite, and their ETA was uncertain.
"As time passed, my wife and kids began experiencing breathing difficulties, particularly my wife, whose condition worsened alarmingly.
"Desperate, we contacted security once more, emphasising the severity of her condition. They vaguely promised the technician would arrive in 20 minutes, which stretched into a harrowing 45 minutes before the lift finally moved."
During this time, Munasinghe said the lift's unpredictable movements - sudden stops, descents and ascents - added to their anxiety.
"At one point, it reached the 45th floor, opening its doors to reveal another closed door beyond," he recalled.
"We had no guidance or communication from staff, leaving us confused and fearful. Any attempt to exit could have resulted in us being trapped between the lift and floor doors. The lift then descended again, compounding our distress."
However, once freed the disappointment continued.
Munasinghe said they were disappointed at the Sky Tower staff's handling of the situation, including feeling blamed for what happened.
"Upon finally reaching the ground floor, we were met with indifference and unprofessionalism from the security team and staff. They treated us as though we were responsible for the incident, adding insult to injury.
"Our children are now plagued by nightmares, and my wife continues to suffer from the traumatic experience.
"This incident has severely tarnished the reputation of what is touted as the country's premier tourist attraction. A simple follow-up call to check on our well-being would have demonstrated a basic level of care and responsibility, but even that was too much to expect."
In a response to Newhsub, a SkyCity spokesperson said they had apologised to the family and admitted they "could have done better".
"We are sorry a family was stuck in one of our lifts on Saturday night for around 45 minutes. Our initial review of the incident has shown that we could have done better in how we communicated with the family and assisted them during their ordeal," the spokesperson said in a statement.
"We apologised to the family on the night and a senior manager has spoken to them again today (Monday) to apologise and ensure we learn from their experience.
"There are around 40 lifts across the SkyCity Auckland precinct, operating 24/7. While we do not want an outage like this to occur, occasionally they do, and we are very sorry this has happened."
However, Munasinghe urged the organisation to "take immediate action to ensure such terrifying experiences are never repeated".
"The safety and well-being of visitors should be paramount, and a clear, professional response protocol is essential to prevent future incidents," he said.
"Our experience serves as a grave reminder of the importance of effective communication and prompt emergency response in maintaining the trust and safety of all visitors."
