No sooner had we finished telling you the most recent news on the tragic elevator accident that took the life of a New York woman last month when we learned of another similar fatal accident involving an apparently malfunctioning elevator.

This unfortunate elevator accident took place in San Antonio. There, a woman who worked as a housekeeper at a hotel fell down an open elevator shaft and was killed. The 65-year-old woman had worked hard for her employer for 12 years and left behind four grown children and 10 grandchildren.

Evidently, it seems that the woman tried to get on the service elevator, but when the doors opened there was no car and she fell six stories to her death.

After the accident, it was learned that the elevator's state-mandated inspection was almost half a month past its due date. That the elevator seems to have malfunctioned and had not been inspected in a timely manner gives the appearance that there was negligence on the part of the parties who were supposed to maintain it.

The woman's family has now filed suit against the hotel's parent company. They claim that they have been deprived of their mother's companionship and have suffered mental anguish and emotional pain in the wake of her terrifying and undignified death.

Hopefully, this very sad story illustrates that we all need to be careful around elevators. And although the children have just filed their suit, it also demonstrates that people have the chance to seek recompense if they have a loved one who is harmed in such an accident.

Source: My San Antonio, "Family sues over hotel worker's fatal elevator accident," Craig Kapitan, Jan. 14, 2012