CCTV footage has surfaced showing what appears to be a boy allegedly setting a lift control panel on fire, leaving the button panel badly damaged.
One video shows the lift display fixed at the 19th floor, while flames can be seen burning through the gap around the up and down buttons. The entire control panel was left blackened by soot.
Another CCTV clip shows two boys loitering near the lift lobby. One of them, who was wearing glasses, remained in front of the control panel for a short period and was believed to have ignited the button before both boys left the area using another lift.
On July 20, Chinese media outlet Jimu News said it repeatedly attempted to contact the person who uploaded the video but received no response.
A staff member from the residential property’s management office in Fengning County later confirmed that the incident occurred in June.
The staff member said the damaged lift button panel has since been repaired. The property management company contacted the parents of the boys involved and provided them with safety education.
The management company also said it did not seek compensation from the families, as it already had spare parts available to repair the lift.
“The two boys are about 11 years old. We happened to have the replacement parts, so we didn’t ask them to pay,” the staff member said.
Meanwhile, lawyer Fu Jian, director of Henan Zejin Law Firm, said under China’s Civil Code, guardians are legally responsible for damages caused by minors with limited or no civil capacity.
He explained that if the children have personal assets, compensation should first be paid from those assets, with any remaining amount to be covered by their guardians. The compensation may include the full cost of repairing, replacing and inspecting the damaged lift equipment.
