Subway horror: 4-year-old Chinese boy killed while playing unattended on escalator at Chongqing metro
Tragedy is latest of a string of accidents on escalators and lifts
PUBLISHED : Thursday, 08 October, 2015, 8:36pm
UPDATED : Thursday, 08 October, 2015, 11:08pm
Jun Mai
[email protected]
A Chongqing escalator claimed the life of a four-year-old boy. Photo: SCMP Pictures
A young Chinese boy has been killed while playing unattended on an escalator, the latest accident involving escalators and lifts on the mainland,local media report.
The subway operator who owns the escalator said a woman left both the boy, aged four, and a three-year-old girl unattended on the concourse. It was not known if the woman was their mother, the Chongqing Morning Post reports.
The boy’s arm became stuck in the handrail belt, apparently while he was playing on the escalator. He was rushed to hospital but later died.
Read more: Chinese escalator horror: Mall staff 'knew footplate was broken' before mother's death
Officials in the southwestern metropolis of Chongqing conducted a safety check in August of all escalators made by Suzhou–based Shenlong Elevator Company, which made the one that claimed the life of a woman, Xiang Liujuan, at a shopping centre in Jingzhou, Hubei province in July 26.
Part of the flooring at the top of the escalator collapsed beneath feet, but Xiang was able to throw her two-year-old son to safety before she was swallowed by the machinery.
One week later, a cleaner at a shopping mall in Shanghai had his foot amputated after it became trapped in a escalator on August 1.
A toddler’s arms were caught in an escalator at a shopping mall in Chongqing for more than 40 minutes on September 15. The girl tripped and fell while on the escalator with her grandmother. Her hands and arms were caught in a gap at the side of the machine. The girl, aged three, was later freed and sustained minor injuries
All these accidents involving escalators and lifts raised safety concerns across the country.
Shenlong was investigated and found to have poor quality control.
