Elderly Woman Loses Leg After Escalator 'Under Maintenance' Collapses

An elderly woman’s leg was crushed by a moving elevator after the metal steps collapsed beneath her. The incident took place at a shopping mall in China on Saturday.

According to the unidentified victim’s family members, the woman and her younger sister were visiting the mall when the victim stepped on the escalator. They alleged that the machine was running normally until the steps suddenly collapsed. The woman fell down and couldn’t get up as “she had nothing to step on.”

Firefighters reached the scene and took 30 minutes to free her. However, the woman’s left leg was already severed by then and she had also sustained serious injuries to the other leg. She was taken away in a stretcher. Video of the incident showed the elderly woman trapped waste down in a gap of the escalator.

However, witnesses said the victim was also to be blamed as she insisted on going on the machine under repair despite barricades surrounding it.

"The escalator was under repairs, there were barricades all around. She removed the barricades. The escalator was just fixed and they were still testing it!" a shopkeeper said. A witness said, "It was still under maintenance but she insisted. You couldn't stop her at all."

Another witness said, "They were still testing the escalator when she insisted on going on it. So she stepped on and everything gave way."

Meanwhile, the victim underwent emergency surgery and was listed stable. However, it remained unclear if the doctors will look at reattaching the limb. Authorities were investigating the cause of the incident.

In a similar incident earlier this month, a two-year-old boy’s arm got stuck on the side of the escalator at a mall in China. The boy and his mother were coming down the escalator when his arm got stuck. Luckily, just before reaching the bottom of the escalator, a mall staff member pressed the emergency stop button. Firefighters reached the location and freed the boy’s arm after almost 30 minutes. The boy was then rushed to the hospital and treated for the injuries.