Mother in China crushed to death in escalator accident, saves son before dying

[Tom99]

It is a terrible tragedy that could have been avoided.

I really hope the people, mainly the ones that did the maintenance, will be held partial responsible, maybe for gross negligence. And, also, the maintenance company should be sued and fined for a huge sum of money for the kid.

Else nothing will change if the people/company responsible for this aren't given some huge and severe consequence.

 

[TaiShang]

Woman dies in escalator accident inside mall in China

A woman in Jingzhou city, Hubei Province, died on Sunday after the flooring along an escalator in a mall gave way.

Surveillance camera footage from inside the mall, which she was visiting with her child, shows the woman struggling to escape after the panel on the floor collapsed. After much effort, she manages to lift her three-year-old child to safety, but is unable to save herself.

According to reports, after the accident, the escalator continued running, and wasn’t stopped until the victim’s family requested the mall officials to do so, the victim’s sister-in-law @kkcake explained on her Weibo account.

In fact, it took the rescuers over four hours to find her body.

According to an insider, who spoke to the Wuhan Evening News, the mall’s staff had forgotten to screw down the panel after examining the escalator.

In fact, many people online have been arguing that judging by the behavior of the two employees standing by the escalator in the footage, the mall authorities appeared to be aware of the safety hazards. However, no one chose to warn the woman from taking the escalator.

The incident has led to angry reactions online, with people demanding a thorough investigation and calling for greater awareness on the safe use of escalators.

“There are emergency red buttons on every escalator, and people, especially employees of places with an escalator, should be taught well this common sense,” wrote Weibo user @milichiyiy

“But I see that different kinds of escalators have that red button placed at different positions. I wonder how we are going to find it in emergency.” @Sicengxiaodunan

Despite the outrage online, there has yet been no official response from the mall authorities. The local government has said that the case is under investigation.

 

[KAL-EL]

Oh my God... I really wish I hadn't watched that video My absolute deepest sympathies to the family. The employees (at least in that video footage) looked like were completely clueless.

 

[xunzi]

There will be handsome compensation for her family which should be expected in an accident that could have been avoided.

 

[TaiShang]

Human error blamed for escalator accident
July 28, 2015
Human error is to blame for the horrifying escalator accident in a shopping mall in Jingzhou city, middle China's Hubei Province, which killed a 30-year-old woman on Sunday, local agencies said late on Monday evening.

Five minutes before the accident, mall staff discovered that a shaft cover on the end of the ascending escalator was loose but they did not stop the escalator, said Chen Guanxin, director of the local work safety authority at the news conference.

The woman, unaware of the situation, fell under the escalator and landed in a gap inside and was instantly killed, the official said.

It was not until the woman was already halfway on the escalator with her 2-year-old son when some of the mall staff members yelled and warned her. It was a bit late for the warning as she fell to her death.

Fire fighters spent four hours cutting open the facility at the Anliang department store to pull her out.

The victim, Xiang Liujuan, was a full-time housewife.

The seconds-long security camera footage showed the victim was holding her son in front of her as they went up the stairway. They were the only two people on the ascending escalator when the unfortunate incident happened around 10am on Sunday.

Several female mall attendants were waiting on the end of the escalator as they approached the upper floor.

The mother then lifted up her son and pushed him forward as a nearby shop assistant dragged him to safety. Nearly at the same moment, the panel she stepped on collapsed. The woman's lower body was immediately stuck by the running escalator. The escalator continued rolling, and several seconds later she was seen disappearing downwards into the mechanism, despite one of the staff briefly grabbing her hand.

The woman's sister-in-law, who identified herself as kkcake, said on Weibo, that the victim was shopping with her son and husband before the tragedy.

"The warning from the store attendants was already too late. It's impossible for a mom travelling with a kid to walk back on an ascending escalator," the sister-in-law said on Weibo.

The accident was one of the top topics on China's Twitter-like Sina Weibo on Monday with more than 6.6 million views.

 

[third eye]

According to reports, after the accident, the escalator continued running, and wasn’t stopped until the victim’s family requested the mall officials to do so, the victim’s sister-in-law @kkcake explained on her Weibo account.

There are emergency red buttons on every escalator, and people, especially employees of places with an escalator, should be taught well this common sense,” wrote Weibo user @milichiyiy

“But I see that different kinds of escalators have that red button placed at different positions. I wonder how we are going to find it in emergency.” @Sicengxiaodunan

The fact that the unfortunate accident happened is bad , it was made worse by the fact that fact that staff at site did not react instinctively to stop the escalator. This is something the Mall authorities needed to educate all.

This death could have been avoided.

 

[Menace2Society]

I am never stepping foot on an escalator ever again.

 

[TaiShang]

Escalator Injuries and Deaths On the Rise, and Why Lawyers May be Overlooking Many of the Cases

[1] Escalator-related injuries and deaths in the U.S. have been steadily rising every year in the U.S. In 1990 there were 4,900 reported escalator-related injuries and deaths.[2] Each year sees about ten percent more injuries and deaths than the year before and, by 2000, there were over 10,100 injuries and deaths.[3] During calendar year 2013, a total of 12,260 escalator-related injuries and deaths were reported.

Escalator Injuries and Deaths On the Rise, and Why Lawyers May be Overlooking Many of the Cases | The American Association For Justice

***

I am never stepping foot on an escalator ever again.

I am just realizing how deadly they might get.

 

[Jlaw]

China: Mother Fell to Her Death Inside an Escalator But Saves Toddler

A woman in China was crushed to death on Saturday after falling through a panel of flooring at the top of an escalator in a department store in Hubei province.

Xian Liujuan, 30, was carrying her young son at the time but managed to push him out of harms way as she fell, reports Agence France-Presse.

CCTV footage posted to YouTube on Sunday appears to show Xian stepping off the escalator onto a metal panel, which gives way. As she falls, Xian pushes her child away from her and a shop assistant drags him to safety.

The assistant then grabs hold of Xian’s hand but the escalator keeps rolling and she disappears into the mechanism.

According to local paper the Wuhan Evening News, maintenance work had been carried out on the escalator at the Anliang shopping mall in Jingzhou and workers had allegedly forgotten to screw the access cover into place.

Xian’s body was recovered four hours later by a team of firefighters.

WTF, they forgot to screw the panels back. I hope her family can sue the maintenance company. In the US, easily $10m for the victim's family.

 

[Menace2Society]

I am just realizing how deadly they might get.

Looking at this actually gives me shivers. What a horrible way to die, grind to death.

 

[Chinese-Dragon]

I am never stepping foot on an escalator ever again.

Don't worry it's not a big risk, this is a case of GROSS negligence, and she was the unlucky person to be the first customer.

If you're not the very first customer then you won't be at risk.