20 hurt as Rome escalator packed with Russian soccer fans goes haywire, accelerating out of control

More than 20 people, mainly Russian football fans, were injured on Tuesday when an escalator in a subway station in central Rome collapsed, firefighters said.

Most of those hurt, one seriously, suffered leg injuries after getting tangled in the escalator’s mangled mechanics, Italian media said.

A video of the drama shows the descending escalator at Repubblica station suddenly and dramatically pick up speed with dozens of people on it, many screaming as they piled on top of each other at the foot of the moving stairway.

Media reports said witnesses spoke of football fans, seemingly drunk, jumping and dancing on the escalator just before it collapsed, but supporters denied that.

“In any event, we are here to understand what happened and to offer our support to the wounded and their families,” Rome mayor Virginia Raggi told journalists at the scene.

Victims were seen wrapped in blankets and some wore neck braces as they were taken away on stretchers by emergency crews.