

It’s officially an epidemic! A 35-year-old cleaner at a Shanghai mall had his left leg amputated after it became stuck in an escalator last night in the third such incredibly tragic and frightening case in just this past week.



As Cloud Nine shopping mall in Zhongshan Park was closing for the night, the cleaner was riding up the escalator and mopping its steps when his leg became accidentally stuck in the section where the stairs meet with the floorplate, according to Xinmin Evening News.

Fortunately, the escalator stopped immediately and the man was rushed to the hospital. However, the leg was so severely damaged that doctors were forced to amputate.

The family of the man were grief stricken over the tragic news. One of the family members told reporters that the man had just began working for the shopping mall three months ago.

The mall and escalator maintenance company are investigating the accident. Based on the preliminary investigation the mall manager speculated that the accident occurred due to “improper operation of the escalator.”



This makes the third reported escalator accident of this past week. On Sunday, a 30-year-old woman was able to save her son but not herself in a horrific accident in Hubei province. Just two days later, a toddler had his arm dragged into an escalator at a mall in Guangxi province.

Additionally, another gruesome machinery accident happened on Thursday as a 21-year-old woman was crushed to death in elevator accident in Zhejiang province

Following the high profile accident in Hubei, escalators in Shanghai made by the company involved in the fatal accident, Suzhou Shenlong Elevator Company, were taken out of service until safety checks were made. It seems like they might have to escalate the situation and just shut them all down.

Please exercise caution around escalators in China. Seriously.

UPDATE: CCTV footage released by Cloud Nine Shopping Mall has revealed what transpired in moments before the accident.

At 10.21pm that evening, the mall was closing for the day but the escalator leading to the metro station was still in operation. Minutes later, 35-year-old cleaner Zhang is seen standing on a mop where the stairs meet the floorplate, using his weight to clean the steps of the escalator.

A section soon gives way and Zhang’s left leg is stuck inside the escalator. By pressing a red button, Zhang was able to immediately turn off the escalator. Rescuers arrived at the scene at 10.50pm with equipment and eventually managed to free him from the escalator, and send him to the hospital, where the decision was later made to amputate his leg because it was so badly mangled.

In pain from the amputation, Zhang, who had just started working at the mall in May, tells local reporters that a similar incident had happened with this escalator just a fortnight ago, and he had reported the malfunction to management then.

A Cloud Nine spokesperson says that cleaning of the escalators should technically only begin at 10.30pm when they are stopped. “We are deeply pained by this tragedy which resulted because standard operating procedures were not adhered to,” he said. “We will be stepping up supervision in the execution of safety measures to make sure all employees stick to standard operating procedures to prevent similar incidents from happening in future.”

According to quality control authorities, 73 deaths and 82 injuries were recorded in 74 escalator accidents around China in the first half of this year.

WARNING: This video contains scenes that some readers may find disturbing. Viewer discretion is advised.

CCTV FOOTAGE RELEASED by Cloud Nine Shopping Mall in Shanghai’s Zhongshan Park has revealed what transpired in moments before Saturday’s accident in which a cleaner’s leg was swallowed up by an escalator.At 10.21pm that evening, the mall was closing for the day but the escalator leading to the metro station was still in operation. Minutes later, 35-year-old cleaner Zhang is seen standing on a mop where the stairs meet the floorplate, using his weight to clean the steps of the escalator.A section soon gives way and Zhang’s left leg is stuck inside the escalator. By pressing a red button, Zhang was able to immediately turn off the escalator. Rescuers arrived at the scene at 10.50pm with equipment and eventually managed to free him from the escalator, and send him to the hospital, where the decision was later made to amputate his leg because it was so badly mangled.In pain from the amputation, Zhang, who had just started working at the mall in May, tells local reporters that a similar incident had happened with this escalator just a fortnight ago, and he had reported the malfunction to management then.A Cloud Nine spokesperson says that cleaning of the escalators should technically only begin at 10.30pm when they are stopped. “We are deeply pained by this tragedy which resulted because standard operating procedures were not adhered to,” he said. “We will be stepping up supervision in the execution of safety measures to make sure all employees stick to standard operating procedures to prevent similar incidents from happening in future.”According to quality control authorities, 73 deaths and 82 injuries were recorded in 74 escalator accidents around China in the first half of this year.WARNING: This video contains scenes that some readers may find disturbing. Viewer discretion is advised.READ MORE: http://shst.me/blz Posted by Shanghaiist on Sunday, 2 August 2015

By Lucy Liu

[Images via xinmin]