Decaying body of Chinese guest found in Da Nang hotel elevator shaft

The Da Nang tourism department has confirmed the death of a Chinese tourist in the elevator shaft of a hotel in Ngu Hanh Son District.

Wang Yin, 67, a guest at the hotel, had been reported missing from May 28.

Three days later, police were alerted after the hotel staff reported a stench coming from the hotel elevator and Yin’s body was found at the bottom of the elevator shaft.

Police surmise that a malfunction in the elevator caused its doors to open before the lift cage had arrived at the floor, and the tourist had stepped in without realizing it.

Four relatives of the deceased came to Da Nang to complete procedures to take her body for cremation.

Nguyen Xuan Binh, deputy director of the department, said elevator failure has been identified as the initial cause of the accident. If the hotel is found to be at fault, it will be responsible for paying compensation for the family’s victim, he said.

Da Nang is one of the top destinations in Vietnam for Chinese visitors. The number of Chinese tourists visiting the city last year rose 25 percent to nearly 600,000.

In the first quarter of this year, Da Nang attracted 1.69 million tourists, up 34.7 percent against the same period last year. More than 819,000 were foreign arrivals, up 58.9 percent.

Vietnam has welcomed 2.15 million Chinese tourist arrivals so far this year, up 37 percent from a year ago, official government data show.