Cleaner at Shanghai mall has leg amputated after getting trapped in escalator
Latest tragedy comes on traditional seventh day of mourning for mother killed in similar circumstances
PUBLISHED : Sunday, 02 August, 2015, 2:50pm
UPDATED : Sunday, 02 August, 2015, 9:24pm
Keira Lu Huang [email protected]
The scene of the accident in the Shanghai mall. Photo: Xinmin Evening News
A cleaner at a Shanghai mall had his leg amputated after it became stuck in an escalator on Saturday, less than a week after a mother was killed in a similar tragedy, a Chinese news website has reported.
The man, 35, was riding up the escalator and cleaning its steps when his leg became stuck in the section where the stairs meet the floorplate. He cried out for help, shouting his leg was broken, according to Xinmin.cn, the website of the Xinmin Evening News.
The escalator, manufactured by Shanghai Mitsubishi, stopped immediately, but his calf was so severely injured doctors had no alternative but to amputate the leg.
The mall and escalator maintenance company are investigating the case.
It was the second such tragedy in a week. Last Sunday, 30-year-old mum Xiang Liujuan was carrying her two-year-old son when she stepped off the escalator at the AZG Mall in Jingzhou in Hubei province and fell through the floorplate. She managed to push her son to safety but she was killed by the machinary below.
An official investigation later revealed the plates had worked themselves loose and were improperly designed.
The manufacturer, Suzhou Shenlong Elevator Company, was accused of poor quality control, and officials have ordered all its machines operating across the province to stop service and safety checks to be carried out.
The Shanghai incident came on touqi – the seventh day after death that is key day of mourning under traditional Chinese beliefs.
