20 Trapped in Tokyo Skytree Lift, Rescued 5½ Hours Later

The Yomiuri Shimbun

17:25 JST, February 24, 2026

Twenty people were trapped in an elevator that goes down from Tokyo Skytree’s observation deck after it stopped 30 meters above ground at 8:15 p.m. Sunday. All passengers, including two children, were rescued about 5½ hours later, around 2 a.m. on Monday.

No one was injured or got sick. The operating company, Tobu Tower Skytree Co., temporary closed the deck for inspections on Monday and Tuesday.

Regular inspections on Feb. 13 and 16 found no abnormalities, the company said.

The sudden stop involved two of the four elevators that connect the fourth floor and the 350-meter-high Tembo Deck, the firm said. The passengers were inside one of these two, which was on its way down. The other elevator, which was 350 meters above the ground, was unoccupied.

The elevators travel at 36 kph, making the trip in about 50 seconds. Each has an area of about 5 square meters. With a capacity of 40 people each, they are equipped with eight emergency items, including drinking water, portable toilets and aluminum blankets.

The trapped passengers were said to have drunk the water and used tissues and the toilets while waiting to be rescued.

About 1,200 people were temporarily stranded on the Tembo Deck and the 450-meter-high Tembo Galleria. They were eventually brought down using the two still functioning elevators.

“It’s scary to think about being trapped myself,” said a 47-year-old man from Oyama, Tochigi Prefecture, who got a refund for his ticket.

A 20-year-old tourist from Paris looked disappointed. She said she booked a ticket about two months ago to go up the tower, which she said is famous in France.