Chinese electric car falls from third-floor parking lot; kills two

Shanghai: A leading Chinese electric car company has said two people were killed when one of its vehicles fell from the third floor of its Shanghai headquarters. 

According to details, the incident took place on Wednesday at about 17:20 local time, and one member of staff and a person from a partner company, who died were inside the vehicle as it fell from the building died in the crash. 

The company immediately started an investigation into the incident in cooperation with government officials. 

The third-storey area from where the car fell has been variously described as a showroom, a testing facility, or a car park. 

"Our company has collaborated with public security department to launch the investigation and analysis of the cause of the accident. Based on the analysis of the situation at the scene, we can initially confirm that this was an accident (not caused by the vehicle)," the company said in a statement.

"We feel very sad about this accident and would like to express our deepest condolences to our colleague and partner employee who lost their lives. A team has been set up to help the families," it added.

Videos circulated on China’s social media showed local medical workers attempting to rescue the two people in the car. 

Terrible story of two test drivers at #China’s electrical vehicle manufacturer NIO being killed when a car somehow smashed out of a building and came crashing down from a great height. pic.twitter.com/4ZNI2t7LqZ

— Stephen McDonell (@StephenMcDonell) June 23, 2022

It is pertinent to mention here that it is not the first time that a Chinese brand is facing questions over its product. Last year, a Chinese businessman died in a Nio ES8 model after switching to the car’s semi-autonomous Navigate on Pilot driving features.