4 injured in escalator malfunction at Macy's in Bellevue
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BELLEVUE, Wash. -- Four people suffered minor injuries when an escalator malfunctioned at Macy's at Bellevue Square on Thursday night.
The incident, which investigators described as "a mechanical failure," occurred at approximately 7:25 p.m.
"(It is) what I call a freak accident," said Robert Dallian of the Kemper Development Company, which manages the mall.
A witness told KOMO News she heard a loud sound followed by chaos near the escalator. When she went toward the noise, she saw that chunks of the escalator had fallen off.
Fire Lt. Troy Donlin said a man in his 30s suffered a minor injury. Three other people were transported for precautionary checks. They included a woman in her 30s and two 3-year-old children.
Donlin said investigators were still trying to piece together the incident.
"We're not sure how many people were on the escalator when the incident occurred, nor are we sure where they were on the escalator," he said. "Most of the damage is at the top of the escalator."
Nicole Johnson said the incident set off confusion among the crowd that had gathered for the Snowflake Lane celebration.
"There were hundreds of people around here, so it was just chaos of people just walking in, going back to their cars," she said.
The cause of the incident was not immediately clear. The escalator had been installed in 1982 and maintained regularly since by the company Schindler. The state escalator inspector had been alerted, and an investigation was expected.
The store remained open during the incident.
The incident, which investigators described as "a mechanical failure," occurred at approximately 7:25 p.m.
"(It is) what I call a freak accident," said Robert Dallian of the Kemper Development Company, which manages the mall.
A witness told KOMO News she heard a loud sound followed by chaos near the escalator. When she went toward the noise, she saw that chunks of the escalator had fallen off.
Fire Lt. Troy Donlin said a man in his 30s suffered a minor injury. Three other people were transported for precautionary checks. They included a woman in her 30s and two 3-year-old children.
Donlin said investigators were still trying to piece together the incident.
"We're not sure how many people were on the escalator when the incident occurred, nor are we sure where they were on the escalator," he said. "Most of the damage is at the top of the escalator."
Nicole Johnson said the incident set off confusion among the crowd that had gathered for the Snowflake Lane celebration.
"There were hundreds of people around here, so it was just chaos of people just walking in, going back to their cars," she said.
The cause of the incident was not immediately clear. The escalator had been installed in 1982 and maintained regularly since by the company Schindler. The state escalator inspector had been alerted, and an investigation was expected.
The store remained open during the incident.
Jeff Burnside your so called "discrepancies" are hardly worth reporting. You did the work to find that teeth were replaced and the demarcation light was repaired but speak to this as if the escalator was clearly problematic. These are typical repairs needed for any escalator. Do you honestly think that escalators are built and then don't need any repairs after constant wear and tear? The "employee" explains that steps were replaced-- also a common repair. As someone who has worked in retail I can attest to getting static shocked by the escalator because it was the first thing you touched after handling a bunch of clothes and trying items on. Are people really this naive?? Burnside, is that really all you could "uncover" after a full day of looking into the incident? What about the individuals who were hurt? What were they doing at the time the escalator stacked up? What about Macy's security videos? Nothing?
If people actually used escalators properly this wouldn't have happened. For example, don't let your kids sit on the step, run up the down, and DON'T bring your stroller on it--as I believe was the case in this incident. I love that people are so careless and then it becomes the fault of the retailer and escalator company. @boomgoesthedynite you are an idiot. You are clearly not an approved rep to be speaking on the manner and it's clear you have no knowledge of how escalators work or how they are repaired. I love how your uninformed post gets attention.
 @SMB2012  @boomgoesthedynite A kid or stroller could not cause what is seen in the picture on top. You're the one who is clearly an idiot.
 @SMB2012  @boomgoesthedynite Forgive my ignorance, please, but how would a stroller cause those plates to be forced up and over the threshold at the top? Â
I got my toe caught in an escalator once, it sliced it down the middle, just missing the bone. That was in 1987, and I'm still leery of escalators. I take the elevator or the stairs when possible.
Always take the stairs!
 @SensationaLies Yeah, and it always creeps me out when the handrail moves at a slightly different speed than the stairs, like at many of the escalators at the Washington State Convention Center downtown... it's very annoying and now after reading this story, I wonder if that flaw might be a harbinger of something worse to come with those as well.
"a mechanical failure," Um, ya...just a smidge...
""(It is) what I call a freak accident," said Robert Dallian of the Kemper Development Company, which manages the mall."
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mechanical failures aren't "freak accidents" - it happens when a machine isn't working properly. it didn't happen because the planets were aligned funny - there is actually a reason based in reality.
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those wacky Kemper-Freeman Developemnt boys!
Glad the injuries were minor. Â I see 'people' escalator malfunction all the time though, especially at the airport. Â They get to the top or bottom, step off, and just stop right there and look around. Â People keep coming up behind them with nowhere to go. Â Clueless.
What's with the correlation between escalators and obesity? I've taken those million times, I must be getting bigger everytime I use one. Maybe it'll buckle under my weight in 10 years.
I can totally sympathize with the people who were hurt. When I was 2 (over 40 years ago), my fingers got stuck in between the steps basically grinding them like meat. Luckily, the doctor was not only able to save my fingers, but I still have feeling in them and fingernails and unless you look closely you wouldn't be able to tell! It was one of my earliest memories of my life. I tend to get a little leary even to this day when I use the escalator.Â
 @The WA Mama Yikes!  I know that can happen and people have had toes torn off being close to the edge of the stair as well.  So sorry that happened to you.
i work at this macys. This escalator in particular has had problems for years. It is not grounded, so it shocks people.Recently, they added new steps in with the old. It was very clear they were different sizes. This comes as no surprise. Neither does the fact that they stayed open during all of this.
@boomgoesthedynomite - Will you please call me as soon as you read this? 206-795-9973. Jeff Burnside, reporter, KOMO 4.
 someone is getting paid
hahahahahaha. Seriously. Granted you never expect failure but why not just put up STAIRS. People in this country spend more on weight loss crap and then they want mechanical things to do their walking and/or stair climbing for them. FWIW, too and nothing to do with the story, West Coast people pls stand to the right on an escalator if you're not going to walk up. Y'all are some of the laziest and personal-space-taking-up people I've seen. Go to the East Coast or the UK and try to stand in the middle of an escalator and experience the wrath.
@ms_creant Actually, I see people riding on the right all the time on escalators, doing exactly what you are asking. I work downtown, almost everyone I ever see does this.
 @ms_creant Look at the picture. there are stairs.Â
Here's a reference for anyone that wonders how the work. If one of the chains that links the steps together breaks, chaos will ensue.Â
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http://media.web.britannica.com/eb-media/81/99781-036-2BCDACB5.gif
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Every escalator has a emergency stop button on it, if you ever witness something go haywire, pushing that is a good idea.
Holy cripes! I would not want to get my food stuck in that! I hope everyone heals quickly!
*foot!!
 @SouthofSeattle LOL! Yeah I was wondering what you were talking about. ;)
 @DylanJ  @Zoso I work online so I browse while I work ;) best job ever!
 @DylanJ No I'm not on here all day long. I just check several times a day on average and stay updated on stuff. Altho I am having a late night and I know it's past time for me to head on off, so maybe I shall. :)
 @Zoso  @SouthofSeattle damn, you're on here all day long! I see your posts on here when im at work and now im about to go to bed and you're still all up in here posting! :)
so many cops guarding the elevator--oh wait. It's Bellevue Square.
 @chandler The cops were drunk don't you know.
Macyâs will definitely get sued. We should shop carefully during the holidays. http://candidly.notlong.com
To those clowns that are making jokes - I was there when it happened, and it was horrifying. There was a loud crashing, pieces of stair were lifting and heaving, and one poor guy got stuck in it. Some bystanders had to pull him free.There were also a couple of young children involved. Staff were crying and everyone was upset. Thank goodness no one was really hurt. So enough with the lame comments.
 @margie I was there when it happened, I also was the guy pulling off the steps to make sure no body was trapped beneath, can you please enlighten me as to when someone was stuck?Â
 @margie Yeah seriously. The losers making all the lazy fat ass remarks are just plain pathetic to say the least. I'm willing to bet even they use them as well. Just glad to see they all got removed. Have a heart for God's sake people!
 @margie Escalators scare me. I remember downtown at the Westlake entrance to the bus tunnel, one of the escalators was being worked on. It was all torn up, huge metal gears showing, metal everywhere...very scary looking.  I have had nightmares since I was a kid about malfunctioning escalators..so I can sympathize with the guy that was in the middle of that mess.  That situation is in no way humorous.Â
@margie - Hi Margie. Will you call me as soon as you read this? 206-795-9973. Jeff Burnside, reporter, KOMO 4.
 @margie I can understand sympathizing with the kids and mom, and how horrible for the guy--but really? The staff were crying?? And everyone was upset? Looks like a bunch of gawkers and instagramers.
@chandler @margie Maybe people were feeling bad for the little kids and mom who must have been freaking out. I know I'd freak out if those were my kids.
Please remember sheeple if on stairs or escalator depending on direction up or down right foot in front of left foot in repeated movement till till top or bottom reached, if more than one level follow same process till goal is reached. Thank you the management...
Looking at what happened here, I can think of a couple of possibilities: Either something jammed in the mechanism or the brakes failed and it accelerated out of control until things started breaking. I'm inclined to lean toward the first explanation, since it looks like the damage is localized toward the top. Given the timeframe, there's a good possibility a lot of people were on the escalator since that would be around the time the Snowflake Lane show would be ending.
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 @Chet Michaels The guy that fell and was injured looked pretty fit and trim to me.  Also, do you make no exceptions for people who are elderly, frail, bogged down by lots of packages, or maybe just weary?  Or are you as concrete a thinker as your posts imply?  I ALWAYS take the stairs when given a choice, but even I could envision letting an escalator do the work once in a while without being "a fat a**" or "lazy." Â
 @Chet MichaelsÂ
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Way to judge, jerk. There are some people *such as myself) who are not able to "do" stairs due to physical handicaps. I am a bilateral lower limb amputee, and stairs are really difficult for me - looking at the flight in the puctures with this story, I would never be able to take that many stairs.
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Perhaps you should not judge everybody, calling them fat, porky, etc. just because they chose to use an escalator. You know nothing about them.
 @Chet Michaels Closest thing I can get the proper response: =====TD====
 @Chet Michaels Did you not read the story?  There were two 3-year olds.  I don't remember seeing 3-year olds walking up a public staircase.  Of course, the kids and a parent are going to use the escalator.
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 @Chet Michaels  @31F hahaha
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@PortSCUM oh good lord
 @PortSCUM Wow.  I guess if you're elderly, infirm, handicapped, or happen to be tired or under the weather that day you're now a "fat a**" (nice lingo, by the way; really classy).  You have some sort of problem that is way bigger than being fat - I'd def go and get it checked out...  While you're at it, get yourself to an ophthalmologist, because the snapshot of the incident shows a guy who is fit and trim looking.)
Two of them were 3 year olds with the third probably being their mama. That is a fun ride for a kid. Watch who you are calling a fat a**.
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Actually no, just a lover of children. Usually those who point fingers are projecting. Might you be overweight or lazy yourself, lol?
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One more reason to take the stairs.
I think that pieces falling of the escalator qualify as more than a "malfunction" but maybe that's just me.
This proves obesity is a threat to national security.