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A 39-year-old construction worker was safely rescued on Wednesday morning after being trapped for nearly 15 hours in a suspended cradle lift at an under-construction high-rise in Maharashtra’s Thane city, officials said.

The worker, identified as Allo Hussain from Kolkata, had been carrying out painting work on the 21st floor of the building in the Majiwada area when a power outage around 3 PM on Tuesday caused the lift to stop, leaving him stranded.

The site is located opposite a petrol pump and includes basement parking, four parking levels, and a 35-storey tower.

According to Yasin Tadvi, head of the Thane Municipal Corporation’s disaster management cell, Hussain remained stuck in the open cradle lift overnight until help arrived the following morning.

Co-workers assisted him by passing water from an upper floor to keep him hydrated during the wait.

The Balkum fire station received an alert in the early hours of July 9 and relayed it to the disaster management centre at 2:02 AM. Emergency services were then mobilised.

“When I arrived at the site around 4 AM, only a construction supervisor was present, and no immediate solution was available," said Tadvi.

“The lift wasn’t working because of the power cut, and I learned that assistance was delayed since the power workers were on strike. So, I directly reached out to a senior electricity official in Maharashtra, who quickly sent two staff members."

“Within 30 minutes, a generator arrived at the site. Thanks to the combined efforts of disaster management officers, the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), police, fire brigade, electricity staff, and the generator team, we managed to safely rescue the trapped worker by around 6 AM," he added.

Tadvi also noted that while the worker was unharmed, the incident highlighted the need for better safety measures at construction sites.