CHINA-ESCALATORS Reports of escalators "devouring" people worry Shanghai residents

Record ID: 1960933

  • Title: CHINA-ESCALATORS Reports of escalators "devouring" people worry Shanghai residents
  • Date: 4th August 2015
  • Summary: WUZHEN, JIAXING CITY, ZHEJIANG PROVINCE, CHINA (DECEMBER 15, 2015) (ORIGINALLY 4:3) (CCTV - NO ACCESS CHINA) ***WARNING CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** CHINESE PRESIDENT XI JINPING SHAKING HANDS WITH RUSSIAN PRIME MINISTER DMITRY MEDVEDEV AND POSING FOR PHOTO MEETING IN PROGRESS XI SPEAKING MEDVEDEV LISTENING CHINESE DELEGATES SEATED MEDVEDEV SPEAKING XI LISTENING WHILE MEET
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  • Location: China
  • Country: China
  • Topics: Asia / Pacific,General
  • Reuters ID: LVA7C226S6A3KOYPGPTS4N9NF61L
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Reports of escalators "devouring" people have is sending fear through Shanghai residents.
    In the most recent incident, a janitor's foot was caught in an escalator at Shanghai's Cloud Nine shopping mall on Saturday (August 1).
    The worker, surnamed Zhang, was rescued but doctors at a local hospital were unable to save his foot and were forced to amputate it, state broadcaster CCTV said.
    The incident follows another report in July which appeared in social media circles, of a woman trapped and killed by on escalator at a shopping mall in central China after stepping onto a lose floor plate.
    Also in July, Chinese state media reported an incident in which a toddler's left hand and arm were caught and injured in an escalator in southern China.
    On Tuesday (August 4), the faulty escalator at Shanghai's Cloud Nine shopping mall was "closed for maintenance" but plenty of shoppers could be seen riding the facility's other escalators. Mall authorities have been unavailable for comment since Saturday's incident.
    Authorities from the Market Monitoring Bureau of Shanghai's Changning district told CCTV that they are now conducting an investigation into the incident on the escalator, which was manufactured in 2004.
    A Shanghai shopper surnamed Qiu said she was scared.
    "I work somewhere near here and I used to walk around there after eating lunch, so after this incident happened, I felt pretty scared. So I go there less frequently these days. Three escalator incidents within just one month has made people pretty panic-stricken. I hope the relevant authorities can investigate (into these incidents) thoroughly, and especially check on the escalators in the downtown business district.," said Qiu, referring to all the incidents since July.
    Zhang Wei, 27, said that she avoids the final step on escalators.
    "Most problems happening on escalators these days are on that final step. Now I try to jump over that step or walk pass it quickly. Honestly, I feel quite scared of it," she said.
    Qin Jiong, the office chief of the Shanghai Elevator Trade Association, said that the failure rate of escalators in the city has increased in recent years.
    "According to our understanding of the situation, the failure rate in the first half of this year has surpassed that of the last year and the one before. So (these accidents) have something to do with this. Under this circumstance we have communicated with the quality supervision department. The quality supervision department has a blacklist system that puts bad, regulation-breaking and poorly managed firms into the list. But we've found that some companies appear in the blacklist for twice, three times or even four times," said Jiong.
    Chinese authorities have pledged to address such quality issues when it comes to malfunctioning escalators, but enforcement remains poor.
    According to Chinese state media, faulty escalators have caused numerous injuries across the country in the first half of this year.
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