Two employees of elevator company, Otis, had a near death experience on Tuesday when a lift they were working on fell four storeys.

According to Netcare 911 manager in East London, Adrian Trollip, the incident occurred shortly before 3pm at the Nestle factory.

"The two technicians were carrying out maintenance work on one of the lifts when the cables broke," said Trollip.

The one technician, only known as C. Scott, fell through the roof of the lift and fractured his left leg. He also sustained lumbar spinal injuries.

The other technician, Vaughn Smith, who managed to hold onto the top of the lift, fractured his pelvis.

Trollip said the men were lucky as their injuries 'could have been much worse'.

The injured men were retrieved by a special rescue team and are in a stable condition.