A man recently lost his balance and fell while on an up-riding escalator at Clementi MRT station, hitting two others behind him.
Staff members at the station rendered assistance to those injured, and halted the escalator’s operations for further checks.
The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) later conveyed all three of them to Ng Teng Fong General Hospital for treatment.
Those injured said that there was an escalator malfunction, but rail operator SMRT claims otherwise.
According to 8world News, the incident occurred on Thursday (5 Oct).
Source: Wikimedia Commons
SMRT Trains President Lam Sheau Kai confirmed what happened in response to queries from the news outlet. He said that staff members at the Clementi MRT Station received word at around 10am of an incident at one of its up-riding escalators.
Reportedly, a man had lost his balance and fell backwards into two people behind him.
Staff members quickly attended to all of them and called for an ambulance. For the safety of other passengers, they also halted operations of the escalator pending further checks.
The SCDF confirmed with 8world News that they conveyed three people to Ng Teng Fong General Hospital.
A man known only as Mr Zhuang (transliterated from Mandarin), told 8world News that his 79-year-old father-in-law was behind the man who lost his balance, while his 77-year-old mother-in-law was behind his father-in-law.
Source: 8world News
“They saw the man losing his balance, and my father-in-law wanted to help catch him. But the escalator abruptly changed directions and moved downwards, causing them all to fall in a tangle of limbs,” he said.
Mr Zhuang said his father-in-law hurt his head when he fell. He also suffered bruising on his arm and back.
Meanwhile, his mother-in-law hurt her wrist and dislocated her elbow.
Source: 8world News
Mr Zhuang claimed his parents-in-law told him that the escalator changed directions and moved downwards for about a quarter of the distance, before moving upwards again.
“The man also told my parents-in-law that he lost his balance because he felt the escalator shaking.”
In response, Mr Lam pointed out that the escalators are fitted with a system that prevents them from going in the opposite direction. The system will supposedly cut off the power supply of the escalator if it detects it going the other way.
Mr Lam added that the escalator resumed operations after they have verified that there were no technical issues with it.
However, Mr Zhuang alleged that an SMRT staff member at the station confirmed with his wife that there was indeed a technical error with the escalator.
In a phone call with 8world News, another staff member said the matter is still under investigation. As such, they expressed shock at SMRT’s stance that there were no malfunctions.
Source: Wikimedia Commons
When the news outlet approached SMRT for more details, the rail operators appeared to double down on their claim. They insisted that there was no such incident where the escalator went in the other direction.
Relevant authorities have already carried out the necessary checks, they said. They only allowed the escalator to resume operations after verifying that everything was in working order.
In addition, they have reached out to the affected parties and provided assistance.
Finally, SMRT reminded members of the public to follow all safety instructions when on escalators.
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Featured image adapted from 8world News.
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