Posted on: May 14, 2026, 08:58h.
Last updated on: May 14, 2026, 08:58h.
UPDATE: On Thursday afternoon, Casino.org received the following response from the publicity company representing Rio Las Vegas:
“The elevator company responsible for servicing was called immediately and their response time was estimated to be less than thirty minutes. A guest in the elevator contacted the Fire Department and they were on scene 23 minutes after the elevator had stalled. The elevators weight limit is 3,500 pounds, and issues will naturally arise when the elevator is over capacity. The situation was resolved swiftly, and the safety of our guests continues to be our highest priority.”
EARLIER: A group of 17 tourists did not get the kind of elevated experience Las Vegas had promised them earlier this month. Instead, they got stuck in a Rio elevator after it dropped at least a foot below the lobby. While no one was injured by the drop, according to Melissa Elcio, the group was trapped “for over an hour,” with the elevator growing hotter as time passed.
“No airflow,” the nurse from Airzona wrote in her Instagram post of May 3, 2026. “We had to crack the door open just to breathe.”
Elicio’s clip initially drew little attention but exploded after TV’s Inside Edition spotted it and ran a story on Thursday, May 13.
“At first, it was really inconvenient, and then it became pretty scary,” Elicio told the syndicated tabloid news program. “It stopped, and then, a second later, it dropped, probably two to three feet. It was very jostling.”
Elicio also claimed the hotel showed “no urgency” in responding and that the group — including a pregnant woman and an individual having a panic attack — had to call the fire department themselves.
“We were told (by security) that the fire department was called,” Elicio told Inside Edition. “So we called the fire department for an ETA, and they said, ‘We’ve never been contacted from the hotel yet.’”
According to Inside Edition, the group was stuck for 55 minutes.
Casino.org reached out to the Rio’s representatives for comment and will update this story if one is received.
Tourist Trap
Elicio’s video begins by panning across the tightly packed elevator as passengers — all dressed for an evening on the Strip — shout suggestions and repeatedly ring the alarm bell. It then cuts to Las Vegas Fire & Rescue forcing the doors open from the Rio lobby. Because the elevator came to a stop roughly a foot below the landing, firefighters helped each person step up to safety.
“Watch your head,” one firefighter says, since the top of the elevator opening was now about a foot lower than normal. “No one’s hurt yet, but if you guys get crazy, then somebody’s gonna get hurt.”
After the group was rescued, Elicio claimed, she saw that “multiple other elevators in the hotel were also down.”
“Situations happen, but this felt like a much bigger issue than just one elevator,” she wrote.
The Rio — a 36-year-old off‑Strip resort now operated by Dreamscape Companies — has been undergoing a multiyear renovation, including room upgrades and casino‑floor improvements.
Reaction online was predictably brutal. Most of the 112 comments under X-based news source Las Vegas Locally’s May 14th repost — which earned over 145,000 views — mocked the struggling Rio’s long-running reputation for maintenance issues.
One user, @genefuss, delivered by far the harshest jab: “There were 17 people at Rio at one time?”