A resident of a Thunder Bay apartment building where a woman was killed last week said the elevators there constantly break down.

Early Friday morning, a 31-year-old woman died after falling down an elevator shaft at the Royal Edward Arms on May Street, a public housing building managed by District of Thunder Bay Social Services Administration Board.

One of the two elevators at the Royal Edward Arms housing complex in Thunder Bay was closed over the weekend. (Nicole Ireland/CBC)

The woman’s accident didn’t surprise Christine Gawronski, who lives in the same building. Gawronski told CBC News she had to jump out of the elevator onto the floor below when it became stuck last summer.

"I could see the apartment, a door with a [number five] … and then … I could see an apartment on the sixth floor,” she said.

“So you're in between two floors. We all jumped down … about half the height of the elevator door itself."

Over weekend, the elevator where the woman was killed was sealed off, but the building's second elevator was still running.

The Coroner's office is investigating the accident.

Gawronski said the elevators are a constant worry.

"We take the [stairs], me and my boyfriend,” she said.

“And once in a while I take the elevators and I fear for my safety. [It’s] almost like [I have] a panic attack in there."