The 2006 Minato Ward elevator accident was an incident in June 2006 which shook Japanese public confidence in the safety of elevators around the country. In June 2006, in Minato, Tokyo, a 16-year-old high school student was killed by an elevator maintained by SEC Elevator Co Ltd ("SEC") but originally manufactured and maintained by another elevator manufacturer and maintenance company. He was backing out of it with his bicycle when the elevator suddenly rose with the doors still open, causing asphyxiation. Investigations began relating to this fatality.[1]
In the process of this investigation, elevator safety in Japan came under question, with media attention focused on Schindler Group, a Swiss elevator and escalator manufacturer which at the time operating in Japan as Schindler Elevator K.K. (シンドラーエレベータ株式会社, Shindorā Erebēta Kabushiki Kaisha). Of the 8,800 Schindler elevators installed in Japan, 85 have trapped people.[2]
Following the incident, the Minato Ward Public Housing Corporation ("MWPHC") replaced all five Schindler elevators at the City Heights Takeshiba complex ("Takeshiba Complex") in the condominium with models manufactured by Mitsubishi.