Electrician Crushed by Cruise Ship Elevator Disabled Safety System

An electrician who died after being crushed in an elevator shaft aboard the Carnival Ecstasy late last year had disabled the safety system before the accident. Chief electrician Jose Sandoval Opazo, 66, was doing routine maintenance atop an elevator stopped on the sixth floor of the Carnival Ecstasy on Dec. 27 when the elevator he was standing on started moving up toward the ninth floor.

According to a report from the Miami Herald, a jumper cable was found on the elevator override system, which is a common practice used by electricians to override safety systems on elevators. Opazo was killed when his body was compressed between the walls of the elevator shaft. Guests on the ship reported seeing large amounts of blood streaming down the front of the elevator doors on the eighth and seventh floors, the Herald reported.

The death was ruled accidental by a Miami-Dade County medical examiner. A spokesman for Carnival Cruise Line said the cruise line made procedural modifications and communicated with staff to avoid a similar accident happening in the future.