The escalator at Qinghu Station is now out of service pending an investigation
Only days after an up-going escalator suddenly slid into reverse on Beijing Metro Line 4 killing a teenager and leaving 30 others injured, a similar accident occurred in Shenzhen leaving two people hurt.
It happened last night (Sunday July 10) at Qinghu Station. Like the incident in Beijing, people were on an escalator when, witnesses say, it went into reverse and began vibrating. Xinhua picks up the story:
“They have been sent to hospital and doctors said they were free of vital-wound,” said Xiao Ping, spokesperson with the Shenzhen branch of the Hong Kong-based Mass Transit Railway (MTR) Corporation, operator of the Shenzhen Subway Line 4, where the accident happenedWitnesses told Xinhua that the escalator ran backward, trembling, when the people on it fell down on the ground.
Xiao, however, denied the witnesses’ accounts.
“The exact number of the injured and the cause of the accident are both under investigation,” said Xiao.
There are not many people in the station as it was not the rush hour, according to witnesses.
The MTR Corporation* of Hong Kong operates both the affected lines in Beijing and Shanghai. Following the death in Beijing, the government launched a nationwide check of escalator safety.
*Full disclosure: The writer of this article worked for two years for the MTR Corporation in Hong Kong.