An escalator malfunction killed a 13-year-old boy and injured more than 30 others Tuesday in a blood-spattered tragedy at a Chinese subway station. Hit the jump to read the rest of the story.
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An escalator malfunction killed a 13-year-old boy and injured more than 30 others Tuesday in a blood-spattered tragedy at a Chinese subway station, officials said.
The freak accident happened at 9:36 a.m. inside the stop for the Beijing Zoo, when the escalator heading up from the station suddenly slipped into reverse, officials said.
Bodies were soon flying, with people thrown to the bottom of the escalator. Photos posted on the Internet by witnesses showed blood on the floor where the victims landed.
The unidentified teen was the lone fatality, and his dad and sister were also injured in the crush of humanity.
“People pressed into a pile, and the boy and his father were buried under others,” one of the victims told Xinhua, the official Chinese news agency.
The boy’s father was taken to the intensive care unit at Peking University People’s Hospital, Xinhua reported.
The dead teen’s sister was taken to another hospital with a head injury. Most of the injuries were not life threatening, according to the news agency.
The cause of the tragedy remained under investigation. The escalator went into service just two years ago, and underwent a routine inspection on June 22, subway spokeswoman Yang Ling said.
