Monas tower becomes tourist trap

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

A newly installed elevator inside the National Monument (Monas) broke down on Sunday, trapping dozens of visitors on the observation deck of the 132 meter-high building.

The accident was the second after a similar one on March 23, in which dozens of kindergarten students were trapped on the top.

The new elevator was opened to the public in January.

Monas manager Surya Dharma Basri, told The Jakarta Post on Monday Sunday's accident was caused by a broken elevator door lock on the monument's first floor. Overcrowding in front of the elevator had led to the breakage.

"There were around 30 people on the monument's observatory deck when the incident occurred," he said.

He denied reports people were trapped inside the elevator, which was jammed for about two hours.

Surya said some visitors were rescued through the emergency exit, a steep 450-step staircase from the top of the Monas tower down to the first floor. The rest were evacuated using the elevator after it was repaired by technicians.

The latest incident was not caused by technical problems unlike the March incident, which was caused by an electricity fault, Surya said.

One of the victims, Amir, 40, who came down the emergency escape, said some tourists panicked when about 80 became trapped on the observation deck.

Surya said this kind of accident had often occurred in the older elevator before it was replaced.

The construction of Monas began on Aug. 17, 1961, under founding president Sukarno. The monument was officially opened to the public on July 12, 1974.

The city administration spent some Rp 765 billion (US$88.44 million) of its annual budget to develop the 100-hectare Monas Park. The budget did not include the Rp 8.7 billion fencing project or the cost of adding deer to the park.