UPDATE: Rio Las Vegas Responds to Why 17 Tourists Were Trapped in an Elevator for an Hour

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 got a lot more than they bargained for at the Rio this month. Instead of a high-stakes Vegas high, their night took a terrifying plunge when their elevator dropped below the lobby floor, leaving them trapped.

While no one was injured by the drop, Melissa Elcio—one of the 17 people inside—said the group was trapped for over an hour in a stifling, hot elevator.

“No airflow,” the nurse from Arizona 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 its Thursday, May 13 show.

“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 has 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.

High Maintenance

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 most stinging rebuke, joking: “There were 17 people at Rio at one time?”