An elevator malfunction in SF's Russian Hill Monday caused it to plunge three stories with someone inside before the emergency brakes abruptly stopped the free fall, sending the person to the hospital with moderate to severe injuries.

The San Francisco Fire Department received a call about the incident at 8:44 am Monday, which occurred at 1475 Vallejo Street near Polk, a four-story multi-unit building in Russian Hill. As the Chronicle reports, the building was constructed in 1917, based on property records.

SFFD Lieutenant Mariano Elias, the public information officer for the fire department, told SFGate the elevator fell “multiple floors” with someone inside and abruptly stopped when the emergency brakes were activated. While the brakes fortunately kept the elevator from crashing into the bottom of the elevator shaft, the sudden stop caused the person to sustain moderate to severe injuries, and they were taken to the hospital.  

“It’s like going 50 mph and slamming on the brakes,” he said.

According to the Chronicle, the building owner was issued a notice of violation by the San Francisco Department of Building Inspections. The department said it had not received any prior complaints about the building’s elevator, and it didn’t have any information about the cause of the malfunction.

Elias told SFGate that while the fire department receives a lot of calls about people stuck in elevators in San Francisco, injuries like this are rare. He said it's much more common to encounter people going through a state of panic from being trapped in the elevator for a period of time.

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