Close call for toddler in Johor escalator mishap

JOHOR BARU — A toddler almost lost his fingers after his hand was stuck and dragged down an escalator at the busy Angsana Johor Baru Mall in Tampoi on Tuesday (June 27).

Quick thinking by a shopper prevented a tragedy when he pressed the stop button bringing the escalator to a halt.

Malaysia Fire and Rescue Department personnel who arrived minutes after were able to free the two-year-old who suffered injuries to two fingers on his right hand.

It was learnt the boy had accompanied his mother and were on the third floor of the mall.

They were proceeding to a lower floor using the escalator when his hand got stuck at 2.20pm.

A Fire and Rescue Department spokesman said the Johor Baru fire station despatched 11 personnel in two vehicles after receiving a distress call at 2.28pm.

“Firemen had to cut the escalator’s jagged plate to free the toddler’s hand,” he said.

The boy was freed 30 minutes later and taken to Sultanah Aminah Hospital for treatment.

It was the third reported incident involving escalators at shopping malls in the country this year.

On March 5, a 20-year-old student injured her leg after an accident on an escalator in Petaling Jaya, and on March 8, a 38-year-old woman fractured her toes after her leg got stuck in a travelator at a shopping mall in Subang Jaya.

The design and safety standards of escalators come under the purview of the Factories and Machinery Act 1967, and design approval is needed from the Malaysia Department of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH) before an escalator can be installed.

The design, installation and maintenance have to be carried out by a competent firm and individuals registered with DOSH.

Before going operational, escalators have to undergo inspections before they are issued a machinery qualification certificate.

A re-evaluation has to be carried out after 15 months to ensure the escalator remains operational.

Late last year, DOSH carried out checks on 7,632 escalators at shopping malls and public places nationwide.

A total of 806 escalators were found to have breached safety standards.

The department directed the owners to repair or replace them under its Safe Escalator Usage campaign.

DOSH took the measures following an “explosion” involving an escalator at Pandan Kapital Mall in Pandan Indah in October last year. MALAY MAIL ONLINE