A woman believed to be in her 40s was killed when a lift 'failed' in a highrise building in Doornfontein, Johannesburg, on Sunday morning, paramedics said.

ER24 spokesman Ross Campbell said the lift had ascended rapidly and came to a stop above the 26th floor of the building.

In a tweet earlier, he said the cable had allegedly snapped and that the lift had "shot up 26 floors".

"A second person was able to crawl free through the remaining gap between the top of the interior door and bottom of the lift door - he was transported to hospital by another service,” Campbell said.

He said ER24 paramedics, Search & Rescue as well as the Fire Department were on the scene at around 10.30am to find that the woman had suffered a critical head injury.

“Attempts were made to stabilise the patient, however access was limited as the lift was very unstable. Despite every effort by a team of professionals, she did unfortunately succumb to her injuries and was declared dead on the scene.

“The exact circumstances surrounding the incident are unclear to ER24, but the South African Police Services were on scene for further investigations,” Campbell said.