MDN: Escalator malfunction leaves wheelchair user with fractured rib
ICHIHARA, Chiba -- A 50-year-old wheelchair user tumbled down an escalator at a train station here, suffering a fractured rib, apparently after the escalator malfunctioned, police said. Officials at the Chiba branch of East Japan Railway Co. (JR East) said the escalator was equipped with a function whereby three of its steps flatten out to make a surface on which people in wheelchairs can ride. A worker at JR Yawatajuku Station helped the man onto the escalator while it was stopped, but when the worker started it up again, the flat section turned back into steps, sending the man tumbling to the bottom of the escalator six meters below.
...The Chiba business office of Hitachi Building Systems Co., which manufactured the escalator, conducted an inspection but failed to find any problems with the system. They said there was a possibility it had been used incorrectly.
The injured man said he wanted to find out who was responsible. "So far no one's given me an apology," he said. "I want it made clear who is responsible for this."
