Many people share a fear of riding elevators and not just because they think Beyonce's sister might attack them.Some believe this fear to be irrational but we at Coolopolis think otherwise.
The list of Montrealers killed in elevators over the years is long and tragic. We think you should take the stairs.
Here's a list of the ones we could find.
1900 - Perhaps Montreal's first-ever elevator death took place when William Samuel died at his family's linen company office on Le Moyne near St. Pierre on Dominion Day 1900. His father, the big boss of the Fabour Brothers company was dis disatraught that he killed himself a month later.
1904 -Painter Armand Decarie was killed at the Queen's Hotel when he looked down the elevator shaft. Decarie, a father with several children was looking down the shaft but neglected the countervailing weight that helped the elevator maneuvre. That smashed him with a head before he could move.
1905 -An unidentified elevator boy living incognito was crushed at the 175-room Turkish Bath Hotel. It was later revealed that he was the son of "wealthy and prominent people living in France.” He was living under an assumed name. The Turkish Baths Hotel was on St. Monique, a now-disappeared north-south street that sat where Central Station is now .
1906 -Someone named Elizabeth Watts was reportedly killed by an elevator at something called the Sherbrooke Flats in Montreal on July 18, 1906
1912 -A 40-year-old contractor named Riley Ryan died at the Windsor Hotel on Sept 5 1912. He was unmarried and was visiting from Brockville. He had just finished having his shoes shined.
1913 - Isaac Kussner of Kussner Brothers leaned over into the elevator shaft at 205 St. Catherine W (old addresses but not far from where the current one is) and fell to his death from the seventh floor in April 1913. Kussner had a wife and four kids. An article on his situation notes that in 1912 there were 8,000 elevator fatalities and 12,000 other injuries in the U.S. in 1912. New York City alone saw 421 fatal elevator accidents between 1908 and 1912.
1914 - Henry Johns died by elevator at the Empire Coal Company at the foot of Desire St. on Sept 24, 1914. He had a fractured skull and broken ribs and died four hours later at hospital.
1920 - Alexander Dey, 27, fell five storeys in a freight elevator at the Wilson Chambers at 230 McGill (old addresses) at 10 30 p.m. on Nov 3. He was about to open the gate on the fourth floor when the elevator dropped. He was brought to hospital where eh was expected that he would die.
1927 - Night watchman William Marcotte died at the Phillips Bldg 1193 Philips Sq. He was collecting garbage onto the elevator to bring to the basement. He neglected to fasten the elevator in place with the proper lever and when he walked backwards while transporting the garbage he fell 50 feet to his death at 7:20 p.m. on July 19.
1928- Rene Dansereau, 22, fell into the elevator shaft of the La Patrie building corner City Hall and St. Catherine died. Dansereau, a deliveryman, was fooling around with a friend and both slipped down the shaft. Dansereau smashed his skull but the friend landed on coal and laundry at the bottom of the shaft.
1938 - Marie Chaput was listed in serious condition after being scalped in the gears of an elevator at the Nadeau Laboratory. She had been working on top of the elevator when it was set in motion on September 13.
1942 - Building inspector Jean-Marie Lariviere, 35, died at 1010 St. Catherine E. (Amherst Building) at 11 a.m. He died of a crushed skull and back injuries.
1946 - Leo Berube, 32 and Raymond Garbeau, elevator repairmen were seriously hurt (and maybe killed) at 998 Clark. They were in the shaft repairing an elevator when a beam fell and hit them.
1951 - A famous fire that killed 30 people on Atwater near what's now the Lionel Groulx metro was set when a blowtorch was dropped into the elevator shaft.
1959 - Joseph Monaghan, 30, was killed at 2020 Mansfield, which was an automated parking facility. He was crushed by an elevator at 8:15 pm.
1976 - Richard Stewart Scully was shot dead in an elevator on Dec. 23 1976. No address disclosed in article except for that it was a"suburban" building. His brother William Robert Scully, an ardent anti-separatist, later blew himself up in an apartment on St. James near Old Orchard. Their father's business was William Scully Uniforms in the East End.
1979 - Ross Gustin, 79,was trapped under an elevator at Queen Mary apartment. He suffered several fractures but died of hearth failure. A rescue was attempted when another user heart him banging. It remains a mystery how he got there.
1981 - Armand Leveillee, 55, died at 1870 Notre Dame W. He was crushed by an elevator door but was only found late in the afternoon, probably long after he was killed. He worked in the archives of the place. 1995 - A boy, 10, died after falling down elevator shaft at a 20-storey apartment building in Chomedy Laval. He was dead before they could bring him to hospital
2005 - Christopher Powell, 21, died after falling down a service elevator shaft around Oct. 20, 2005 at the Ideal parking garage on Metcalfe. He was a Carleton student from Ottawa visiting to watch friends play Ultimate frisbee.