Five people were injured at Thane railway station after an escalator loaded with people malfunctioned on Friday evening. An eyewitness claimed that the escalator started to suddenly move in the reverse direction and an alert passenger hit the emergency button. The railway authorities refuted the “reverse movement” claim.
It was a little before 8 pm that the mishap took place at the escalator on platform 1. “The machine, possibly overloaded, suddenly stopped functioning. Many lost their balance,” said the eyewitness who did not wish to be named. “Before anyone realised it, it started moving in the opposite direction.”
All hell broke loose as loaded passengers started screaming frantically. An alert passenger reached out to the ’emergency’ button at the base of the escalator due to which power supply was switched off. The railway authorities immediately shut the escalator for public use.
Commuters blamed the railway administration for “negligence in the regular upkeep of the escalators”. Thane station has eight escalators. “Surprising that an escalator that was installed a few months back has malfunctioned. Are we waiting for a repeat of the Elphinstone Road tragedy before taking corrective action?” said a commuter.
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