A horrifying escalator accident where a man lost his leg after falling through the top of an escalator at a Shanghai mall resulted in the man losing his leg. The latest escalator accident comes in the wake of recent troubling news about a woman swallowed alive and killed by another escalator in China.
A surveillance footage was released showing the horrifying escalator accident where the man, who was cleaning the escalator, stepping onto the machine with a mop. However, moments later, the shocking accident takes place.
Identified only as Zhang, the man involved in the latest horrifying escalator accident is a 35-year-old shopping mall janitor. Due to the Saturday incident at Longemont Shopping Mall in Shanghai's Changning district, he was reportedly forced to have his leg amputated, according to the New York Daily News.
Chinese state media reported that Zhang was cleaning the escalator when the metal panel at the top gave way, leaving his leg trapped inside, according to CNN.
He said he felt the machine shaking "but the escalator did not stop and I had to press the emergency button."
Firefighters were only able to extract Zhang's entire body from the escalator after about 20 minutes. Though the man survived after being sent to a nearby hospital, doctors were forced to cut off the lower half of his leg. They said his foot was severely damaged after the horrifying escalator accident that they "had to amputate the foot to avoid the injuries from deteriorating," reported The Inquisitr.
An investigation is currently underway. However, the Chinese mall reportedly released a statement saying that Zhang "improperly" stepped onto the escalator and that "the brush of the mop was trapped inside the gap in the stairs, which caused cracks in the comb plate."
The victim reportedly violated operation regulations since he did not shut down the escalator first before cleaning.
This horrifying escalator accident where a man's leg had to be cut off is the third escalator-related accident in China that has been recorded on CCTV, according to The Mirror.
The tragic incident follows another escalator accident days before where another Chinese citizen had been seriously injured.
Last Sunday, Xiang Liujuan, a 30-year-old mother, was sucked into an elevator and died in front of her son at a Jingzhou mall. On Tuesday, a toddler had also suffered hand and arm injuries after getting stuck in a Guangxi escalator.
In spite of all the news about such horrifying escalator accidents, Chinese authorities maintain that there have only been 49 escalator or elevator-related accidents the year prior. There have been 37 deaths in those accidents, according to Gawker.
Mom saves son before being killed by escalator in China. https://t.co/X73zIuTpSx pic.twitter.com/OUbsXOL7cJ
— NBC Bay Area (@nbcbayarea) July 27, 2015
Mother in China pushes son to safety before being swallowed by escalator https://t.co/pKabjndRyS pic.twitter.com/oXS4I7LAxf — The Age (@theage) July 29, 2015
