escalators

16 Stories

Firefighters Free Teen's Hand from Escalator Rail

The rescue took an hour, and the teen is expected to make a full recovery

(Newser) - "I don't know how this happened," Orange County Fire Chief Michael Morganstern told a reporter. But rescuers still managed to undo the painful predicament a teenage girl found herself in after an unsuccessful escalator ride. Per KTLA 5, firefighters were called to the MainPlace Mall in Santa...

Nation Can 'Breathe Freely' After Ruling on Escalator Case

Canada's Supreme Court says cops overstepped in 2009 in detaining woman who wouldn't hold rail

(Newser) - When Bela Kosoian rode the escalator in a Montreal-area subway station in 2009, she probably never expected to become embroiled in a legal battle that would last for a decade. Kosoian was arrested in the Quebec city of Laval then after police officer Fabio Camacho advised her to hold onto...

Scary Escalator Accident Caught on Video

20 injured in Rome incident

(Newser) - At least 20 people were injured when an escalator in the Rome metropolitan system collapsed Tuesday night, the AP reports. A video shown on Sky TG24 shows the escalator accelerating suddenly, and the people riding down on it collapsing one onto another. The dramatic footage shows people on the parallel...

They Looked Up, Then the Ceiling Came Down

Incident captured on video in China

(Newser) - Surveillance video captured a scary scene in northwest China Saturday, when an unspecified ceiling decoration collapsed onto a people-packed escalator. The incident occurred at the Huashan Mountain tourist center in Huayin City, and Fox News reports at least nine people were injured, though none seriously, per news.com.au . The...

18 Injured When Escalator Suddenly Reverses, Speeds Up

The 150-foot escalator is one of the longest in Hong Kong

(Newser) - At least 18-people were injured Saturday in Hong Kong when a 150-foot-long escalator suddenly stopped and reversed, speeding up as it sent shoppers tumbling, the South China Morning Post reports. The escalator travels between the fourth and eighth floors of the shopping mall at Langham Place; it's one of...

Woman Falls to Death at World Trade Center Oculus

Jenny Santos was reaching for sister's hat when she fell off escalator

(Newser) - A 29-year-old women fell from an escalator to her death while reaching for a hat early Saturday morning inside the World Trade Center Oculus, NBC New York reports. According to the New York Daily News , Santos and her twin sister were just reaching the upper level of the transit hub...

Another Terrible Escalator Accident Rattles China

Worker is now an amputee after latest tragedy

(Newser) - Another day, another devastating escalator accident in China. An employee at Longemont Shopping Mall in Shanghai's Changning district had his foot and part of his leg amputated after becoming trapped in an escalator on Saturday, according to the South China Morning Post . The worker, identified simply as Zhang, was...

Workers Warned Mother Who Was Swallowed by Escalator

But new footage shows employees didn't stop the escalator

(Newser) - You'd think that if you almost plummeted through an escalator panel that you'd immediately press the "STOP" button so no one else could get hurt. But in chilling footage from a China mall where a mom fell through such a panel to her death , two mall employees...

Mom Saves Her Kid as She's Crushed to Death by Escalator

The incident happened this weekend in China

(Newser) - It's a gruesome way to go: A 30-year-old mother was killed in central China over the weekend when the metal floor panel that sat between the top of a mall escalator and the floor beyond gave way as she and her son exited the escalator. But as the woman,...

Woman Dies After Scarf Caught on Escalator

Horror in the Montreal subway

(Newser) - Safety mechanisms failed horrifically yesterday when a woman was strangled after her scarf and then her hair became caught in an escalator at a Montreal subway station. “The woman’s scarf got caught in the escalator and then she bent down to try to get it out and her...

SF Escalators Jammed With ... Poop

Homeless people use them as restrooms

(Newser) - San Francisco workers were greeted with an unpleasant sight when they opened a broken subway escalator: a vast quantity of human waste—enough to require a hazardous materials team on the scene. It seems that homeless people frequently use BART stairwells as nighttime toilets; indeed, the poop came as no...

Woman Strangled by NY Train Station Escalator

LIRR escalator had been slated for replacement

(Newser) - An 88-year-old woman was strangled yesterday on a Long Island Rail Road escalator that commuters said was malfunctioning for months. Irene Bernatzky was killed after she fell and her clothes became entangled in the treads of the moving stairs, investigators say. Officials say the escalator passed inspection last month after...

Crocs Sued For $7.5M Over Escalator Accident

(Newser) - A Pennsylvania woman has sued the manufacturer of Crocs for $7.5 million after her son was injured in an escalator accident, the Baltimore Sun reports. The 6-year-old was wearing the company's foam clogs when they caught in an escalator and mangled his right big toe. The suit charges that...

Japan Warns of Croc Danger
 Japan Warns of Croc Danger 
Apr 18, 2008 5:46 PM CDT

Japan Warns of Croc Danger

Officials want changes to popular clogs, susceptible to escalator mishaps

(Newser) - After their research confirmed what many had complained about, Japanese officials today asked the makers of popular Crocs clogs to do something about a design that makes wearers susceptible to getting caught in escalators, the AP reports. The grip and flexibility of the plastic footwear led to several dozen incidents...

Dad Falls to Death at Ballpark
 Dad Falls to Death at Ballpark 
Apr 16, 2008 12:44 PM CDT

Dad Falls to Death at Ballpark

Dad tumbles from escalator after Mets game

(Newser) - A 36-year-old father of two died after falling four stories from a Shea Stadium escalator last night, Newsday reports. Antonio Nararainsami was leaving the ballpark with family members when he tumbled over the railing of the non-moving escalator.  Police are looking into the possibility that Nararainsami was "surfing"...

Danger! Crocs on the Escalator!
Danger! Crocs on the Escalator!
Sep 18, 2007 9:02 AM CDT

Danger! Crocs on the Escalator!

Accidents on the rise for kids wearing popular shoes

(Newser) - At rail stations, department stores and shopping malls from Washington to Tokyo, kids wearing Crocs shoes or similar footwear are getting their toes caught in escalators with painful and occasionally bloody results. The accidents have become so commonplace that the Washington Metro has posted ads—featuring a crocodile—calling for...

16 Stories