Third Serious Escalator Incident In A Week Takes Man’s Leg

The third serious escalator-related incident in one week’s time claims a man’s leg in Shanghai, China this past Saturday. A custodian at the Cloud Nine shopping mall, 35-year-old Zhang, was cleaning the escalator when the incident occurred.

Mall surveillance video shows Zhang placing a cloth near the top of the escalator and stepping on it in order to clean the escalator with his foot until a floor panel gave way and trapped his left leg in the moving machinery. Emergency personnel rescued Zhang, but his lower left leg was amputated at a nearby hospital later that day.

State media reports Zhang violated regulations by not shutting the escalator down before cleaning it. No word on who was responsible for securing the panel to the floor, or who is responsible for ensuring employees are following procedures.

The incident marks the third serious escalator incident in China in a week that has included one fatality.

In Jingzhou, China last week, a metal escalator panel gave way, resulting in the death of 30-year-old Xiang Liujuan, who had the wherewithal to push her two-year-old son to safety as the escalator machinery crushed her to death. The graphic video can be seen here.

In the southwestern province of Guangxi two days prior to that, a toddler’s left hand and arm were caught in a gap of an escalator after he tripped and fell at the bottom. The injury caused multiple serious injuries, including a fractured arm and he was hospitalized.

The three incidents have garnered a great deal of attention on social media throughout the world, resulting in people in China tiptoeing on escalators and testing escalator plates before walking on them. This, despite there is a 0.000003% chance someone would get seriously hurt on an escalator in China, based on the population there and the 37 fatality incidents that occurred last year in that country.

Each year, an average of 20 people die while using escalators in the United States. The probability of dying on an escalator in the U.S. is 0.000006%, double the chances in China, largely due to the population differences in the countries.

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By, Robert Box, Contributor
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