Authorities Say Resort Did Not Get Approval for Elevator Installation

On Monday, we brought you the story of seventy-six-year-old Joy Quale, the Belizean-American retiree who unfortunately fell to her death at Serenity Shores Resort on northern Ambergris Caye last Friday. Quale was using a hoist designed to lift goods to travel from the fourth floor to the ground floor of the resort. But the cable for the lift apparently snapped and Quale was fatally injured. Today, we can confirm that the resort did not get approval from the relevant authorities to install the lift. An investigation is pending on whether criminal negligence was involved in that matter. On Monday, News Five contacted an elevator service specialist who indicated that the lift was not an elevator but a goods winch because elevators are designed to break the fall when their cables snap or when they otherwise malfunction. Additionally, elevators are installed indoors instead of outdoors to protect their mechanics from the elements. In the case of the lift at Serenity Shores, it was installed on the outside of the building.