The company which looked into the breakdown of an elevator within the Parliamentary complex yesterday has informed the Sergeant-at-Arms that 12 Parliamentarians had got into the elevator that could handle only six people at once. 

The maintenance company had stated that the elevator, one of the oldest in the parliamentary complex, was designed to handle six people at once and it was clearly displayed at its entrance. 

However, the company had admitted that the alarm indicating the excessive weight had not worked yesterday.

However, about 12 Parliamentarians were stuck in an elevator yesterday when it broke down. 

UPFA Parliamentarians Wimal Weerawansa, Bandula Gunawardena, Dayasiri Jayasekera, Dullas Alahapperuma, Ranjith Zoysa and Chandima Weerakkody were also among the MPs who underwent the ordeal last morning. 

Weerawansa, speaking in Parliament, said even though the MPs dialled the emergency numbers, the help arrived only after 15 minutes. 

Weerawansa requested the Speaker to look into the matter and said they "nearly died" as the emergency number took a long time to respond.