A repairman who was dispatched to service an escalator in Chongqing ended up being eaten by the machinery and suffered extensive injuries. It looks like the machines are turning on even those sent to repair them.
According to Tencent, the incident took place earlier today outside a supermarket located near the campus of Southwest University. The repairman somehow ended up being pulled under the escalator steps where he remained trapped until help arrived.
While you might be tempted to think that this is yet another horrific escalator accident due to poor maintenance, like the one which shocked the nation last summer when a woman was crushed to death after falling through a loose section of flooring, it turns out that his misfortune might have been of his own making.
While exact details of how the accident occurred have not been released, reports indicate that the repairman had failed to disconnect the power before getting to work, pretty much standard practice when it comes to repairing complicated and potentially dangerous machinery.
Still, we don't like the look of those rusty pieces of metal you can see exposed when the steps of the escalator are removed.
Firefighters arrived on the scene quickly to rescue the man. He is reported to have sustained severe injuries but for now is said to be in a stable condition.
