Last weekend two Marist Sisters were trapped in a lift in the their house, Casa Suore Mariste on Via Aurelia in Rome, for three days.
The outgoing Superior General of the Marist Sisters, Sr Jane Frances O’Carroll, who is a New Zealander, and the outgoing secretary general, Sr Miriam McManus from Ireland, were minding the shop while their newly elected leadership team returned home to pack up ready for the move to Rome.
They were trapped in the lift on Friday and were without food or water until they were rescued on Monday morning.
The average temperature in Rome on the weekend was 34 degrees Celsius.
After the lift became stuck, the women called for help but everyone else had left the building for the weekend.
Neither of them had a their mobile phone.
When rescued the two women were visibly shaken and severely dehydrated, but in good health.
They were admitted to the hospital San Carlo di Nancy located nearby, where they remained for several days.
On Monday, a cleaner noticed that the newspapers and mail had not been taken from the mailbox and she rang the doorbell but got no answer.
So she went nearby to the OMI Fathers and the Oblates who said there were definitely some people in the building.
The cleaner called the carabinieri and they used spare keys kept in a nearby religious house to enter the building.
When the policemen called out to see if there way anyone anyone there, the trapped women replied, “Yes we are stuck in the lift.”
One of the carabinieri activated emergency procedures to bring the lift down to the ground floor.
Source
- thelocal.it
- CathNewsNZ Rome correspondent
- Image: stuff.co.nz
