Death trap sauna

There was a tragic accident at a sauna resort yesterday in Tokyo, Japan. A married couple died when they got trapped in a sauna. I've always had a vivid imagination so I've never been enthusiastic about saunas, because I always thought how horrific it would be to get trapped in one. But in truth, even I didn't think that it was something that would happen. And it should never have happened.

It looks like there were two main reasons that this tragic accident occurred. One, the main one, is that the door of the sauna had a broken handle. Without being able to use the handle, the couple would not have been able to open the door easily. The second reason is that the emergency button in the sauna had run out of battery power. So even if the couple tried to sound the alarm, they wouldn't have been able to. 

Normally the door to a sauna is a push / pull type - pull the handle to enter, push to get out. The photo below is of a sauna door just like that, at a campsite in Saitama City. I am no expert on sauna, but as there is often one at a hot spring, I have noticed over the years, that most are the push / pull type. Tragically its too late for this couple, but I hope, going forward, sauna operators will more carefully consider the type of doors they use and ensure their emergency buttons are working.