Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary was trapped in an elevator for as long as 30 minutes

On the morning of September 6, an unexpected incident occurred in the Japanese prime minister's official residence. When Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi was taking the elevator, the elevator suddenly malfunctioned, resulting in Hayashi and a secretary official and a bodyguard, a total of three people being trapped inside for as long as 30 minutes.

It is reported that at that time, Hayashi was preparing to go from his office to the cabinet conference room to preside over the cabinet meeting. However, due to being trapped in the elevator, the cabinet meeting originally scheduled to start at 10 am had to be postponed for about 20 minutes. Eventually, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida presided over it on behalf. According to people related to the official residence, the air conditioning in the elevator was turned off when they were trapped, and it was also difficult to connect to mobile phone signals.

Hayashi was late for the press conference after the cabinet meeting. He explained this by saying, "When I was going from my office to the cabinet conference room, I couldn't arrive due to an elevator malfunction and was trapped inside for about 30 minutes." However, Hayashi said that this unexpected situation did not have a particular impact on his physical condition.

This incident has attracted widespread attention, and the facility maintenance and security guarantee issues of the Japanese prime minister's official residence have also been questioned. The elevator malfunction that caused important officials to be trapped not only affected the normal government affairs arrangements but also highlighted the possible hidden dangers of related facilities. The Japanese government said it will conduct an in-depth investigation into this incident to avoid similar situations from happening again, ensure the safe and reliable operation of facilities in the official residence, and guarantee the normal and orderly development of government work. The public also hopes that relevant departments can find out the cause of the malfunction as soon as possible and take effective measures to make corrections to improve the management level and emergency handling ability of the official residence.