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10 injured in escalator accident in Kawasaki

12 Comments

Ten people were injured after they tumbled down an escalator that stopped suddenly at Musashi-kosugi Station on the Tokyu Toyoko line in Kawasaki on Wednesday morning.

According to police, the accident occurred at 8:20 a.m. on the ascending escalator which is 18 meters in length. TBS reported that the escalator, which was carrying 40 people at the time, stopped with a jolt sending commuters tumbling down like dominoes. Four men and six women, ranging in age from their 20s to 80s, were taken to hospital to be treated for injuries, police said, adding one of the 10 -- a 39-year-old man -- broke his leg.

Police said the escalator was installed 18 years ago and undergoes routine maintenance checks twice a month. Nothing out of the ordinary was found on the last inspection, station officials said.

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12 Comments
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Could have been worse if the escalator was descending? In addition to the search for the rapist in Kawasaki the cops must be higgledy-piggledy.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

In related news. 9 people on their cell phone not paying any attention fall down an escalator when one person stumbles after an escalator stopped suddenly.

-1 ( +3 / -4 )

So let me get this straight. The Kawasaki police said the case about the gang rape suspect "was not going to be made public," but the Kawasaki police felt this was necessary to report. Why? Not to say that people being injured on an escalator in public isn't a safety issue, but why wouldn't a gang rape in Kawasaki not be reported?

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

How in the world do 10 people fall down a escalator that is going up? Is this a backwards world we live in or what. Wow.

-3 ( +1 / -4 )

The escalator dropped slightly when it stopped (they were showing animations explaining it on the Japanese news).

0 ( +2 / -2 )

Jusdtifies all the squeaky recorded messages about being careful and holding on tight and so on. Ki o tsukete, minna-san.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

"Uh...yeah, my ____ hurts too."

0 ( +0 / -0 )

People need to pay more attention to detail...like maybe holding the handrail while riding the escalator and less time on their smart phones!

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

@Gajin6000 How in the world do 10 people fall down a escalator that is going up? Is this a backwards world we live in or what. Wow

DAHHHHHHHHH It's all about momentum. When people are on the escalator standing still, the body has no momentum just the escalator. When the escalator stops the momentum carries you but your body wants to stay stationary. Because it's resisting the acceleration of the escalator, your body doesn't move with the escalator and therefore get pushed backwards.. WOW

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Learning from my j-wife that we should never touch the filthy handrail, I never do. But I think I will from now.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

This happened while I was staying with my sister-in-law in the apartment block just above where this escalator is. On seeing the escalator in question I couldn't understand how people were hurt so badly, but if it moved after stopping I guess that would explain it.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

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