Watch your step next time you get on an escalator
gency stop mechanism located at the foot and the top of the escalator, they could well have stopped the machine and saved the boy. As they shouted helplessly, the escalator dragged him along, almost choking him and hurled him over the railing. The boy obviously did not have much of a chance of survival after the fall to the ground 24 feet below. He died after four days of struggle at the hospital.. If only there was a trained guard or if only people knew about the emergency switch, the boy could well be alive today!
On August 15, the malls were overcrowded, as were the escalators at these malls. I casually asked some riders if they knew how to stop the escalator in case of an emergency. None knew! It’s for this reason that earlier, malls (and all buildings with escalators) used to have big boards indicating the emergency switch. They also posted guards at these places. I find both the precautionary measures absent these days and it is imperative that these be revived immediately.
In fact, I often notice women getting on the escalators with long dresses or loose palazzo salwaars or sarees and duppattas kissing the ground and trailing behind them. This is risky, because these could well get caught in the escalator. Simi- larly, there is hardly any parental supervision of children as they ride the escalators. Instead of standing clear of the sides, some of them stand too close to the side and run the risk of their small feet, clad in soft shoes get- ting trapped in the gap on either side of the stairs. Similarly, they need to grasp the handrail , but should not touch the sides below the handrail.
Parents carrying young children in their arms need to be extra careful. If they have the child in their left arm, their right arm should be free to grasp the handrail and they should ride on the right side of the escalator. In May this year, a 10-month-old child slipped from her mother’s hand and fell to her death at a shopping mall in Ganganagar district of Rajasthan.
The death was blamed on the parents’ attempt to take a selfie while on the escalator. That was the most foolhardy thing to do. But, if you look at the video, you will notice that the child was at risk even if the parents were not taking a selfie because the mother is seen carrying the child in her left hand and is on the left side of the escalator – which means she cannot hold the railing at all to stay steady on the moving escalator ! For a safe ride, she should have got on to the right side and held the right handrail. If only there was a trained guard, he could have guided them on how to ride the escalator safely!
Will those in charge of malls and other public places please take note!