In Kambat v. St. Francis Hosp. (89 NY2d 489, 494, 678 N.E.2d 456, 655 N.Y.S.2d 844 [1997]), the Court of Appeals observed that, where the actual or specific cause of an accident is unknown, the doctrine of res ipsa loquitur allows a jury to infer negligence merely from the happening of an event and the defendant's relation to the incident. The Court further noted that, for the inference to be drawn three elements must be present: (1) the accident must be of a kind that ordinarily does not occur in the absence of negligence; (2) the instrumentality or agency causing the accident must be in the exclusive control of the defendants; and (3) the accident must not be due to any voluntary action or contribution by plaintiff. Id.