Sticky situation: Jammed escalator laces up shocking Chiang Mai mall incident

A shopping mall incident shocked consumers in Chiang Mai today after a female student’s shoelace was sucked into an escalator. The student, who was visibly panicked, had to remove her shoe and jump off the escalator to escape the potential danger.

A cleaning staff member who noticed the incident promptly pressed the emergency stop button, halting the escalator’s operations amidst public and tourist’ alarms.

The unusual escalator incident occurred around 3.30pm yesterday, in a Chiang Mai shopping centre when a female student’s canvas shoe lace got sucked into the descending escalator.

The sudden event caused the student to panic, attempting to pull her foot from the escalator’s grip in the hope that the lace would come loose.

Unable to free her foot, she made the quick decision to remove her shoe and safely jumped off the escalator. A cleaning staff member, who was in the vicinity, immediately pressed the escalator’s stop switch.

Amid public anxiety and tourist curiosity, the mall’s maintenance crew arrived to investigate and successfully retrieved the shoelace before the escalator resumed normal operations.

The female student revealed that after finishing school, she was visiting the shopping mall with friends. As she was descending from the G floor to the B1 floor on the escalator, her shoelace came undone.

She didn’t think much of it initially, but as she reached the last step, her shoelace got sucked into the escalator’s comb plate. Terrified, she tried to pull her foot free but was unsuccessful, leading her to decide to take off her shoe and jump off, reported Sanook.

Officials have since issued a cautionary warning to all escalator users. They advised checking one’s attire, particularly shoelaces, for safety, and to be cautious with wheeled luggage as it too could potentially get sucked into the escalator.

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