Port Elizabeth – Eastern Cape police are investigating a case of attempted murder after it emerged that a lift at the Mount Road police station in Port Elizabeth was allegedly tampered with, it emerged on Monday.
Last month a lift in the main building plunged from the fourth floor and injured seven people, three of whom are still receiving treatment in hospital.
Officials from the Local Criminal Record Centre and the Crime Intelligence Unit were stuck in a lift after it plummeted from the fourth floor.
Employees sustained various injuries, which included fractured legs and a head injury, while others received treatment for shock and whiplash.
Provincial police spokesperson, Brigadier Marinda Mills, confirmed that a case of attempted murder was opened by the department of public works following an inspection of the damaged lift by a private company.
"A case of attempted murder was opened by representatives from the department of public works. This after the lift was inspected by an independent company from Johannesburg," said Mills.
Mills said it was found that 14 counter-weights were missing, a counter-weight weighing over 70 kilograms each.
However, the faulty lift at the main building of Mount Road police station was not the only lift that was found to be problematic last month.
Days before the lift at the main building plummeted to the ground, cops could not get into their offices and residents had no access to their living quarters at the Barracks due to a non-functioning lift.
The problematic lift at the barracks situated across Mount Road police station's main building was subsequently fixed.