The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror is a hit sensation in Disney World. Riders love the thrilling ride where they climb aboard a haunted elevator and “drop to their doom.” In Disney, all rides have a happy ending. But in this tragic horror story, you'll see that this elevator ride in Brooklyn didn't have a happy ending.
On Friday, May 3rd Inunion Tursunov didn’t step onto the fun and exciting Tower of Terror ride. He was expecting a non-eventful, quick ride down to the first floor. Instead he plunged to his death after trying to free himself from a stuck Navy Yard Elevator.
This Uzbekistan native and Brooklyn resident had just ended his shift at 10:30 p.m. on Friday. He stepped on the elevator on the 6th floor of Gilt Groupe, where he worked. The power went out when he was in the elevator stuck between floors. Emergency workers were called in to get Tursunov out of the elevator however before their arrival he had already tried to escape on his own. During his attempted escape he fell through the gap between the doors and fell down the 5 stories. A rescue crew arrived shortly after his fall and rushed him to the hospital, unfortunately upon his arrival he was pronounced dead.
Tursunov, a father of two, had moved to the U.S. about four years ago from Uzbekistan a country located in central Asia, that shares borders with Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. For the past two years he had worked as an independent contractor, providing transportation services, for Gilt Groupe, a fashion e-commerce company.
According to the New York Post, his grief-stricken wife declined to comment. However a friend stated that “He worked very hard for his family.” In his wake he left a wife and two young daughters, a two-year old and a five-month-old.
As modern as our society has become, be aware that every machine has its malfunctions.