A tragic incident unfolded in Fasano, a town in southern Italy, where a 25-year-old woman named Clelia Ditano lost her life after a horrifying elevator accident. On the evening of July 1st, Clelia entered the building’s elevator on the fourth floor, but instead of stepping into the lift, she fell four storeys down an empty shaft. The door had opened unexpectedly to reveal nothing but a void.
Local reports indicate that after falling, Clelia landed on the roof of the elevator cabin itself. The alarm was raised when her father, having called her cell phone and hearing it ring inside the shaft, contacted emergency services. Despite a rapid response, Clelia succumbed to her injuries before she could be rescued, a devastating blow to her father and all who knew her. Firefighters confirmed that she died upon impact.
Authorities are now thoroughly investigating the elevator to understand why it malfunctioned — specifically, why the doors would open when the elevator cabin was not present, as it was actually situated four storeys below the point where Clelia entered.
Initial investigations suggest a critical failure in the elevator’s safety mechanisms, which are designed to prevent exactly this type of accident by ensuring that doors do not open into an empty shaft. According to the insurance carrier HAI Group, robust safety measures such as doors, gates, or other protective means should always secure an elevator landing zone.
Clelia, remembered by her loved ones as a vibrant individual who enjoyed dancing, social outings, and sports, has received an outpouring of tributes on social media. Friends and family fondly recall her as a kind and beautiful person. Tragically, just hours before her unexpected death, Clelia uploaded a photo on Instagram captioned, “Here’s to what’s to come.” An eerily prescient post from earlier in the year read, “To that which lies beyond…”
The shock and sadness of Clelia’s death are palpable in the messages left by her friends. One wrote, “It wasn’t supposed to go this way, you were supposed to make all your dreams come true, the family you wanted to create, find true love…” Another expressed disbelief and sorrow, commenting, “RIP. How can someone die like that? Then even the sentence of this post written 20 hours ago ‘to what’s coming’… gives you the chills.” A third friend lamented, “Rest in peace sweet angel. May your family survive this huge and unfair pain.”