Another escalator incident rocks customers at a Bangkok shopping mall

Another escalator incident occurred in Bangkok, this time at a shopping mall in the Bang Na district of Samut Prakarn province. Fortunately, no injuries were reported.

A Thai man, Nathakrit Khajorndechasak, who works at a mobile phone shop in the shopping mall, shared a video and a picture of the incident on Facebook. He said…

“Must be awake and aware all the time. I was talking to my customer, and it happened right in front of me. It was lucky that a man who was on the escalator managed to jump to safety. So scary.”

The video showed some people gathered to witness the incident and took pictures of the broken escalator. The picture featured the escalator step treads upturned.

Nathakrit later gave an interview with ThaiRath about the incident. He explained that it occurred at about 4.50pm yesterday, July 11. While he was talking to a customer, he heard distinctive banging noises emanating from the escalator, about three to four times. He searched for the origin of the noise and saw a man jump off the escalator to safety and avoided hurting himself.

Nathakrit added that shopping mall staff members rushed to the scene to ensure there were no victims immediately after the escalator malfunctioned. He added that the mall needs to undertake regular inspections and maintenance of all escalators because they are used all day, especially at the weekend when the mall is crowded with visitors.

Several other shoppers who witnessed the malfunctioning escalator shared their experiences on social media.

One woman revealed that she had just stepped off the escalator 10 seconds before the incident happened. Another woman disclosed that it was lucky that no one was hurt.

Two recent escalator accidents have sent shockwaves throughout Thailand, none more so than the unfortunate accident at Don Mueang International Airport two weeks ago when a Thai woman lost half of her leg after it was pulled into the moving walkway or travelator while she was walking to her gate.

Another woman came forward to share a similar incident involving her son at the airport. In this case, the young boy’s right foot got caught in the escalator, necessitating 11 stitches to treat the wound on his foot.