Congress leader Shashi Tharoor got trapped for several minutes in a lift of a hotel in Kerala on Friday, following which he was rescued.
The incident happened at a private hotel when the Congress MP was arriving to attend the installation ceremony of the Rotary Club of Trivandrum East in Thiruvananthapuram.
Visuals of the incident showed Tharoor smiling after being rescued along with several others as he walked out of the lift.
Congress MP @ShashiTharoor was safely rescued after getting briefly stuck in a hotel lift in Thiruvananthapuram. He later honoured Fire and Rescue Services personnel for their swift response. pic.twitter.com/n07nIlGHwC
— NDTV (@ndtv) July 17, 2026
Tharoor, along with others, was rescued by fire and rescue personnel. Speaking to the media following the incident, the Congress leader assured that everyone was okay.
“The lift got stuck, we tried every means of getting out but nothing worked. We called the Fire and Rescue Services, they rescued us…Don’t worry we are all okay,” Tharoor said.
According to an officer of the Thiruvananthapuram fire station, rescue personnel received a call at 7:37 pm aboutTharoor being trapped in the hotel life. A team was immediately rushed to the location.
Fire personnel used a hydraulic spreader to open the lift door, safely rescuing everyone inside the lift.
Stepping out of the lift, Tharoor thanked the fire officials. “Thank you to all of you. Well done. You have done a good job,” he said.
Tharoor further told reporters that lift mechanics were called initially, but they were unable to open the doors, while hotel staff also could not do much. That is when they thought of calling the fire and rescue services.
“I have a good opinion about the fire and rescue services. The officers here did a good job. They reached here within five minutes. Very good and thank you very much,” he said.
He also said that if they had the time, they should have some tea before leaving. But the officers politely declined and left after shaking hands with Tharoor.
According to a report by ANI, the Congress leader later felicitated the fire and rescue personnel for their prompt response.
