How 1 Mistake on an Escalator Tragically Killed a Man

When stepping onto an escalator, many thoughts force their way into your mind… What if you can’t get off in time? What would happen if your shoelace gets caught in the teeth? And, what’s inside the machine that whirrs underneath your feet? Let’s get into it!

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[Lumpydoor]

I was already irrationally afraid of escalators and now it’s rational

[supahmariostyle]

The story about the Mom who threw her child to safety, but wound up being swallowed by an escalator will forever be tragic.

[Dragonemperess]

I saw the video of the second one. That mom was an MVP throwing her child out of harms way with the quickness. Rest in peace, you awesome woman.

[arvurebantra]

Funny escalator story from when I worked mall security. There was an event in a store that was known as "Big Dog" where they brought in several St Bernards, the store's mascot dog. For some reason, the people bringing the dogs in decided to bring then to the second floor, where the store was located, via the escalator instead of the elevator. Several of the dogs got so scared that they pooped on the escalator. That poop then smeared through the mechanisms and every panel. They had to shut it down and take it apart to clean and replace so much.

[TheOfficialTarynTots]

This video is perfect for this time of the year when most of us hit the malls. I always worried my shoelaces would suck me under as a kid.

[alexwakeman.]

In America, a lot of shopping malls that have escalators don’t have a stairs option and it always frustrates me!

[Flyingnems]

As a child, my foot was caught by the escalator as the escalators did not have the teeth to protect your feet. I lost part of my toes. They can be scary for sure and now I'm scared of them.

[CaseyDplays]

"He decided to do it alone"

Anytime I hear anything like that it gets my attention because from my experience you don't decide something like that unless you've been taught by the place you work at to do so.

[KidarWolf]

I'm in the escalophobic group where getting on and off escalators is the scary part. I know my particular phobia comes from a specific incident that occurred, and was covered by the news, when I was a young child, of someone being caught in an escalator when it grabbed their shoelaces - though they survived the incident, it mangled their feet. I now step very high when getting onto an escalator, and often half-jump half high-step when getting off the escalator.

[Bisexualdragon]

I hope that womans family was properly compensated. Nothing about what happened sounds like an accident, even I knew as a kid that the red button is there for a reason. Also, safety isn't that difficult it just costs people more time and steps.

[xiaolongwolf]

I used to have a terrible fear of escalators as a kid. One time, my shoelaces did get caught in the escalator but a lady in the store helped yank it out for me. I also always felt like I was gonna fall when taking the descending one.

[piperbird]

Back in 2010 my husband and I went to DC to the Rally to Restore Sanity. Almost a quarter of a million people showed up, which was WAY more than they were expecting. When it was over, everyone started walking back to the escalators down to the metro to leave. There was a huge crowd around the nearest one, so my husband and I decided to just keep walking to another one. Turns out that escalator broke and sped up, dumping everyone at the bottom. Thankfully there were only minor injuries.

[fpfpfpfp]

A childhood friend and classmate died riding an escalator at Montreal's congress center in 2007. He was only 15. He was leaning back against the railing, lost his balance, tried to hold on but fell dozens of feet down onto the top of the entry lobby.

[ReallySimpleRich]

I was always kinda afraid of escalators because when I was five my younger brother almost have the same accident like the women in this video. Good thing only his side of the panel fell so my mother was able to lift him up before he got chewed, his sandal was torn a bit and his foot was scarred a bit. Really was scary

[houghtonred]

This happened in the UK. When my son was a toddler, his laces were caught in an escalator. His father noticed before he was injured and grabbed him, dragging him free. It was very scary.

[CinnamonGrrlErin]

Ooh, just got a horrible flashback of getting my coat caught in the side of an escalator when I was a kid. I had a jacket with big, chunky fake jewel buttons and one happened to get caught somehow in one of the side panels. The jacket stayed, I kept going, until I felt a big yank and I would have fallen backwards if I hadn't managed to lurch upwards and get the button ripped off.

[SomeplaceScary]

I'd seen the extended cctv footage of both the first incidences in this video some years ago. Had no idea if the first guy survived or not, but it didn't look like the chances were good. I remember reading that the mom didnt make it in the second clip and just feeling so sad for her son and family.

[Zanthum]

I was on an escalator at the st Louis MO sports dome (I don't know the name or what team played there) when it suddenly stopped. It almost launched myself and my friend, the only other person on the escalator, down the stairs from half way up. We were then yelled at by security thinking that we had done something to it. We were there for a school competition and were involved in the event so it was the first opportunity we had to get something to eat or drink all day and we were exhausted so the risk of not catching ourselves was high. I also think this was day 2 or 3 of the event.

[cardinaloflannagancr]

The mother being pulled in one is very tragic, made worse that the problem was noticed previously. Sure they tried to warn her however all they needed to do was push a giant red emergency stop button and they would not have been anything to warn anyone of. Instead they let it run rather than make people have to walk a flight of stairs vs stopping the knowingly broken and dangerous machine.