At least ten people had a narrow escape on Wednesday after an elevator broke loose and crashed down at Millenium Tower-II in Makumbusho, Dar es Salaam.

Seven persons were injured when the elevator collapsed from the 10th floor and were taken to Kairuki Hospital in Dar es Salaam for medical attention.

Patrick Mohamed, an Assistant Inspector with the Tanzania Fire and Rescue Force, said that overloading was to blame for the lift's tragedy.

In his remarks after the rescue exercise, he stated that the elevator went down without brakes from the tenth floor to the ground due to excessive weight.

Despite the challenge, he said that the lift had been under maintenance for the past two weeks and urged the owners to test repaired elevators by loading it with other materials after repairs before allowing people to use it.

The Public Service Social Security Fund (PSSSF) owner of the building issued a state- ment after the incident, saying they have been informed by the administrator of the Millennium Towers 2 building about the sudden elevator failure.

"We console all those affected by the elevator malfunction that occurred in the building," said James Mlowe PSSSF Public Relations Manager.

According to Mr Mlowe, PSSSF in partnership with the Estate Manager, Ms Prolaty Consult Limited monitors, man- ages, and corrects any faults that have occurred so that tenants and users of the building can resume their normal tasks as soon as possible.

He stated that their experts are continuing to analyse the incident in coordination with security organs and the building administrator, adding that further information would be released.