Concerning news, it seems escalator incidents are not limited to freak accidents in Hubei; some 300 cases of injuries have been reported on Shanghai Metro escalators and elevators in the first seven months of the year, report the Shanghai Daily.
It is (almost all) your fault though, according to Metro operator Shanghai Shentong, who said that carelessness was to blame in more than 90 percent of cases (just like this incident, then). In only one accident was escalator malfunction to blame, they insist.
The Metro operator said accidents were more likely to occur when there were fewer people in a station, with 59 accidents occurring during rush hour, compared to 241 at off-peak times. (No explanation was offered for these suprising stats, nor how the figures compared with previous years.)
Elderly travelers were more likely to be injured in escalator and elevator accidents. Some 67 percent of injuries occurred among passengers aged over 60, compared to 20 percent among 45 to 59-year-olds and 13 percent for under-45s.
The city’s 14 Metro lines carry more than 9 million passengers a day. The 337 Metro stations have more than 2,300 escalators and around 700 elevators.
This article orignally appeared on That's Shanghai.
