WARNING – DISTRESSING CONTENT: Adriana Maria de Jesus, 45, was killed when a lift in the Santo Andre Building in Sao Paulo, Brazil, suddenly went into freefall and crashed to the ground at high speed
A husband watched his wife plummet to death on CCTV when a lift in the building he managed suddenly went into freefall.
Adriana Maria de Jesus, 45, was in the building in Sao Paulo, Brazil, to visit a family she worked for. Footage showed her climbing aboard on the fifth floor of the Santo Andre Building. It climbed two floors without incident but when it went back down to the second it suddenly went into freefall.
Watching on with horror was Adriana’s husband Gildelio Alves do Santos, who was the building’s concierge and saw the accident through his security monitor. The clip shows the moment terrified Adriana lifted her hands in the air as she disappeared in a cloud of smoke, dust and debris. An investigation into the tragedy is ongoing.
Husband Gildelio said: “I watched the monitor screen and saw my wife going up and everything was normal. When it came down I was horrified. My heart is broken. I have to find the strength to work and to get on with life because I have to work.”
Adriana was rushed to hospital with multiple injuries but died a week later. The two men in the lift, aged 63 and 27, survived the fall and were allowed home after hospital treatment. Adriana and Gildelio had been childhood sweethearts but only married when they met again after 28 years apart. He added: “We met again and had the chance to live this childhood love for six years.”
It emerged in local media how the lift was installed when the apartment block was built, more than 60 years ago. Sao Paulo Department of Public Security said the case is investigated as a suspicious death and bodily injury. A spokesperson said: “We are seeking evidence and listening to witnesses in order to clarify the facts.”