Elevator Death Sparks Nationwide Investigation

[Coligny]

Ok... since we are starting to drown in good taste...

[matsuki]

One of my buddies just had his younger brother killed by an elevator in Saitama. Went to inspect it and the thing just dropped on him when he was in the shaft....I didn't want to ask any more details after he told me "I went there to ID the remains...there was nothing left to ID." Dude has a really young kid...

edit: found an article: http://www.saitama-np.co.jp/news/2016/02/26/02.html

That's terrible

Did it make the national news?

It was all over the news that week. All I was told was he was somewhere below when the thing just straight fell on him. I'll ask him if they ever figured out the cause tonight.

[legion]

Well I hope his family get compensation that runs to the 100s of millions of yen. There is a formula based on age against potential earnings, I hope they crank it up to the max.

[wagyl]

I'll ask him if they ever figured out the cause tonight.

For God's sake be tactful.

[kurogane]

I'll ask him if they ever figured out the cause tonight.

For God's sake be tactful.

Well put. A question like that could really lower your friend's state of mind and cause him to descend into grief fuelled depression. If anything comes of this, hopefullly it will push the public's buttons and help to elevate these sort of infrastructural safety and maintenance issues. I am getting a strong impression that as a symptom of the economic malaise there is a lot of stages being skipped and infrastructure is gradually crumbling into an American or Quebec style neglect that causes needless random tragedies like this. Sad stuff.

[matsuki]

So...what made your bro go splat? (and pass the karubi)

I am getting a strong impression that as a symptom of the economic malaise there is a lot of stages being skipped and infrastructure is gradually crumbling into an American or Quebec style neglect that causes needless random tragedies like this. Sad stuff.

That shit is scary...unfortunately lawsuits against the authorities tend to have more success there than here. (though, I think this was a privately owned apartment)

[kurogane]

I noticed a lot of what looked like chronic maintenance neglect last trip in buildings and such. Public stuff seems to be kept up to that ramshackle Asian level, but some private buildings look like they have been neglected for a few years now. Fortunately there aren't all that many super tall buildings in Tokyo so I just take the stairs. It's a worrisome issue, and in this case, terribly sad. Plus it makes Tourist Town Tokyo look like a half Third World destination.

[matsuki]

I noticed a lot of what looked like chronic maintenance neglect last trip in buildings and such. Public stuff seems to be kept up to that ramshackle Asian level, but some private buildings look like they have been neglected for a few years now. Fortunately there aren't all that many super tall buildings in Tokyo so I just take the stairs. It's a worrisome issue, and in this case, terribly sad.

I wonder what's going to happen for all the one-off type structures and such that have no detailed plans or the usual paint by numbers maintenance instructions.

Plus it makes Tourist Town Tokyo look like a half Third World destination.

The moldy buildings, faded street paint, and rusted scaffolding being used as fences everywhere already does that for me but I see homes that are slowly collapsing/falling over on a daily basis...which isn't surprising to most here....only mentioning it because there are people still living in the ones I'm seeing. I guess because they're not renting, nobody can declare them uninhabitable? (or maybe people just don't want to report that shit?) All I know is I've known/met several people that have had their homes damaged/destroyed by these zombie houses when they caught fire or collapsed. (cause there is so much room between properties for all that fire/debris to go)