WARNING: This story contains details that some readers may find disturbing.
A 76-year-old woman was found dead in the bottom of an elevator shaft of a Charlottetown apartment building last month, Charlottetown Police Services confirmed on Wednesday.
Det.-Sgt. Darren MacDougall said that when officers responded to a call about an unusual odour in the building at around 9 a.m. on June 27, they discovered the body of the woman in the basement elevator shaft.
Officers conducted an investigation to determine whether there was any criminality involved, but MacDougall said the evidence did not support that.
“The tenants should know that there was no foul play, so there’s no concern in that regard,” he told CBC News.
MacDougall said the woman had likely been dead for more than a couple of days before she was found.
In a statement to CBC News, the P.E.I. Department of Justice and Public Safety said the coroner’s office has been notified and the investigation is still underway.
“Results from this investigation will inform the cause and manner of death. As the investigation is ongoing, it is too early to make any determinations of inquests,” the statement reads.
On Wednesday, signs posted in the building said the elevator would be unavailable until further notice. CBC News has reached out to Weymouth Properties, the building’s owner, for comment on the situation.
News of the death and the broken elevator has raised concern among tenants in the building, including Fairouz Gaballa.
“I felt really bad,” she said. “I thought it would be a very bad way to die, especially later in life.”
Gaballa said she has spoken only to neighbours about the incident and has not received any communication from building management.
She believes management should have informed tenants and provided transparent updates.
“It’s their job as a company that owns this property, knowing that there’s a lot of seniors here that rely on the elevators,” she said.
“It’s 100 per cent their job and their responsibility to send an email out, to maybe hold a meeting in our community room or anything like that, and talk to people.”
Gaballa said some seniors in the building who use walkers are struggling to leave their apartments because they can’t use the stairs.
She also called on the province to investigate thoroughly and hold an inquest into the incident.
Other residents shared similar concerns. Hannah Ghiz said she had met the deceased woman.
“She’s quite an extraordinary woman. She was really nice,” Ghiz said.
With the elevator now out of service, Ghiz said she’s using the stairs and managing, but she still wonders why residents weren’t informed.
“We didn’t get any notice at all, and nobody called us or let us know what’s going on.”
Farhana Akhter Monalisa, a resident of the building for six years, said she worries about seniors living alone.
She believes a simple attendance system to check on elderly tenants, especially those over 80, could make a difference.
“Somebody died, or somebody is sick inside the apartment, it should be found immediately,” she said.
Monalisa said she had complained to building management about elevator issues in the past, including a month during which she could feel the elevator shaking whenever she used it. Management eventually looked into that issue, she said.
But she said more needs to be done, and all elevators across the province should be checked rigorously and more frequently.
Under P.E.I.’s Elevators and Lifts Act, every elevating device must be inspected by an inspector at least once a year, or more frequently if deemed necessary for safety by the chief inspector.
