Fatal escalator accident in China could have been avoided by mall staff
An escalator accident that killed a 30-year-old mother in China on Sunday could have been avoided because staff knew the escalator was broken but failed to prevent the woman from using it.
Xiang Liujuan was at the AZG shopping mall in Jingzhou city in China's Hubei province with her husband and 2-year-old son on Sunday morning. She took the escalator up with her son, and when they reached the top of the stairs and stepped off, a faulty metal panel collapsed. Xiang became trapped in the moving escalator but managed to push her son out of harm's way right before she was killed.
Three employees witnessed the incident, and one of them tried to pull Xiang out of the mechanism but failed. It took nearly four hours for rescue workers to disassemble the escalator and locate Xiang's remains.
Staff at the mall noticed that the escalator was broken minutes before the accident, but they did not turn off the escalator or notify security.
An investigation has determined that the manufacturer of the faulty escalator, Suzhou Shenlong Elevator Company, and the shopping mall are responsible for Xiang's death.
According to the South China Morning Post, the size of the metal panel did not match the original design and fit loosely. CCTV footage of the incident has been viewed more than 6.5 million times on Chinese social media site Sina Weibo, with many netizens expressing outrage at the lack of action by mall staff members who didn't turn off the dangerous machine.
The mall was criticized by netizens for not giving proper training to the staff to deal with emergencies and accidents on escalators and elevators.
Xiang's husband Zhang Wei was quoted by state broadcaster CCTV as saying: "[My wife and son] were more than halfway up the escalator when [a shop assistant at the top of the escalator] said the escalator had problems, but it was too late. As she finished the sentence, my wife fell into [the machinery]."
Xiang Liujuan was at the AZG shopping mall in Jingzhou city in China's Hubei province with her husband and 2-year-old son on Sunday morning. She took the escalator up with her son, and when they reached the top of the stairs and stepped off, a faulty metal panel collapsed. Xiang became trapped in the moving escalator but managed to push her son out of harm's way right before she was killed.
Three employees witnessed the incident, and one of them tried to pull Xiang out of the mechanism but failed. It took nearly four hours for rescue workers to disassemble the escalator and locate Xiang's remains.
Staff at the mall noticed that the escalator was broken minutes before the accident, but they did not turn off the escalator or notify security.
An investigation has determined that the manufacturer of the faulty escalator, Suzhou Shenlong Elevator Company, and the shopping mall are responsible for Xiang's death.
According to the South China Morning Post, the size of the metal panel did not match the original design and fit loosely. CCTV footage of the incident has been viewed more than 6.5 million times on Chinese social media site Sina Weibo, with many netizens expressing outrage at the lack of action by mall staff members who didn't turn off the dangerous machine.
The mall was criticized by netizens for not giving proper training to the staff to deal with emergencies and accidents on escalators and elevators.
Xiang's husband Zhang Wei was quoted by state broadcaster CCTV as saying: "[My wife and son] were more than halfway up the escalator when [a shop assistant at the top of the escalator] said the escalator had problems, but it was too late. As she finished the sentence, my wife fell into [the machinery]."
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