Mother’s pram stuck in Tai Po escalator in wake of high-profile accidents

A mother’s pram got stuck in an escalator at a shopping centre in Hong Kong this morning, following three recent high-profile problems with escalators, including a deadly accident in mainland China last week.

This morning’s incident at Tai Wo Plaza in Tai Po was revealed when a witness put a picture on Facebook showing only two plastic wheels stuck at the bottom of an escalator.

In an accompanying caption, the poster said a woman was descending on the escalator with a pram when the wheels got caught at the bottom. There was a boom, the poster wrote, and the escalator continued running until someone pressed an emergency stop button.

A spokesman from The Link Reit, which managed the mall, acknowledged the incident but said there were no injuries. The escalator had been closed off.

He noted the escalator carried a notice warning people not to use baby strollers.

Employees had investigated the case and found someone had been using the escalator improperly, he said.

That had triggered an automatic safety feature which stopped the escalator. The shopping centre’s contractor was conducting checks and repairs of the escalator, which was last serviced late last month, the spokesman added.