New Mother, 26, Dies After Being Cut In Half By A Lift As She Was Transported On A Stretcher At A Spanish Hospital Shortly After Giving Birth

A young woman who had just given birth via C-section was being transported on a stretcher to the maternity unit when a freak lift accident led to her being cut in half....
Rocío Cortés Núñez, 26, had just woken up following a C-section and was being transported with her baby on a stretcher between the second and third floors of the Valme Hospital in Seville, southern Spain. As she was being wheeled into the lift, a mechanical failure caused the lift to start moving upwards before the stretcher was fully in. Local reports said the woman was literally divided into two in the horrific accident which occurred at around 2.30 p.m. yesterday. Her baby is said to have been unharmed.

Police and firefighters rushed to the scene along with duty medics but could do nothing to save her life. According to local reports, firefighters took two hours to reach her mauled body after her head was trapped between the lift frame and roof as it started moving upwards and her feet left dangling in the lift shaft.

The victim is also a mother to two other daughters, aged three and four. Her brother-in-law, David Gasper, said his brother, the victim's husband, is devastated by the death of his wife and mother of his kids.

He told Europa Press: "It's incredible. We still don't believe them... Something has to be done. This cannot go unpunished."

An investigation, coordinated by an investigating magistrate, is now underway.