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Elevator In Chicago's Hancock Building Drops More Than 80 Floors; No One Hurt

A passenger elevator in the building formerly known as the John Hancock

A passenger elevator in the building formerly known as the John Hancock Center, Chicago’s fourth tallest structure, malfunctioned on Friday and sent six people speeding downward.

The passengers, who had gotten on the express elevator at the 95th floor, plunged more than 80 floors after a hoist rope broke.

“I believed we were going to die,” one passenger told CBS 2 Chicago. “We were going down and then I felt that we were falling down and then I heard a noise ― clack clack clack clack clack clack.”

The fire department was called and the elevator was discovered hanging at the 11th floor. But since there was no door at that level, rescuers had to cut a hole through the wall to extract the riders. The rescue operation took close to three hours.

Two of the passengers were visiting from Mexico, while two others were in town from New Zealand. A pregnant woman was among the group, but neither she nor any of the others required medical attention.

Earlier this year, the name of the 100-story building was changed to simply 875 North Michigan Avenue.

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This article originally appeared on HuffPost.