Have You Seen This? The elevator of death

A paternoster elevator never stops for people to get on or off.

A paternoster elevator never stops for people to get on or off. (Dylan Anderson via Youtube)


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NIGHTMARE LAND — Do you get tired of all the time you spend waiting and waiting for the elevator and then waiting some more while it stops at each floor in your building? Do you wish your office had more excitement?

Then the "elevator of death" might be just the thing for you.

A new video posted on Youtube shows such an elevator in Prague, in the Czech Republic, called a paternoster.

The lift "moves in a continual loop as passengers brave enough to step onto the doorless cubicle can board once the platform is within stepping range, and disembark when it brings them to their floor," Prague Morning reported.

It doesn't even have a door.

The video shows people hopping on and off the elevator, as it continues quickly moving up or down without stopping. One woman even totes a suitcase onto it.

And the people have a look of comfort, as if this is just their daily routine.

I have so many questions: What happens if you drop something while rushing to go inside? What happens if you simply don't move fast enough, or trip as you get on? If I was even brave enough to jump on, I would end up riding the elevator up and down, up and down, afraid to jump out. Escalators are scary enough.

I'm pretty sure this contraption has appeared in my nightmares.

According to Prague Morning, most paternosters have safety features that "should" prevent people from getting body parts stuck in the machine. "The individual parts of the elevator give way should anything become trapped in them, and immediately stop the lift from continuing its journey," the newspaper said.

There's that, at least.

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Ashley Imlay is an evening news manager for KSL.com. A lifelong Utahn, Ashley has also worked as a reporter for the Deseret News and is a graduate of Dixie State University.

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