Rome: Over 20 people injured as escalator loses control
What's the story
Over 20 people suffered injuries at a Central Rome metro station on Tuesday when an escalator malfunctioned; most of them were Russian football fans. While many suffered leg injuries after getting entangled in the escalator's mangled panel, one of them was severely injured. The horrifying incident has been captured in a video that has now gone viral. Here's more.
Twitter Post
The video that captured the horrifying incident
Breaking: #Escalator in #Rome #malfunctions causing several #injuries We hope everyone is ok!!! #retweet pic.twitter.com/kfVmVkgH0P
— Paulie G (@PaulieGMMA) October 23, 2018
The accident
What happened actually?
In the video, an escalator at Repubblica station can be seen descending, before suddenly picking up speed as people fall and pile on top of one another at the foot of the escalator. According to media reports, witnesses said that the football fans were drunk and jumping and dancing on the escalator right before it lost control. However, they have denied this narrative.
Details
Football fans were on their way to watch the match
The incident at the Central Rome metro station took place at around 17:30 hrs GMT, almost an hour before a Champions League match between Italy's Roma and Russian club CSKA Moscow. The Russian fans were supposed to board the metro to the stadium. The metro station near Rome's Termini train station has been closed and the accident triggered investigation.