BOSTON — Nine people were taken to the hospital after an incident on an escalator at the Back Bay T Station Sunday night.
Boston EMS responded to the station shortly after 6 p.m.
Nine people were transported with minor injuries.
KONE is the company tasked with maintaining and inspecting the escalators.
On Monday afternoon, Kone released this statement: “The safety and well-being of the public is our top priority at KONE. We are working closely with the MBTA and other appropriate authorities to gather the facts and determine what may have caused the incident that occurred at the Back Bay station Sunday, and our thoughts go out to those who sustained injuries.”
An escalator at the Back Bay @MBTA station remains closed this morning after it malfunctioned last night, sending people tumbling down the moving stairs. 9 people were taken to the hospital.
— Julianne Lima (@JulianneLimaTV) September 27, 2021
This morning on @boston25, hear from witnesses who saw the chaos unfold pic.twitter.com/m5YXop3MAx
An MBTA spokesman told Boston 25 News:
“Shortly before 6:00 p.m., there was an incident involving the escalator from the Amtrak/Commuter Rail platforms to the street-level lobby of the station. Transit Police, Boston Fire, and EMS responded to the scene. The escalator will remain out of service while the incident is thoroughly investigated.”
Witnesses described the escalator stopping or possibly moving backward, causing multiple people to fall down the moving stairs.
“I guess the escalator malfunctioned, everybody fell and hurt themselves at the bottom of the escalator,” a witness told Boston 25 News. “They were talking with the paramedics and all that, kids were crying hysterically, the mom and the daughter were on a stretcher.”
JUST IN: @MBTA spokesperson tells me the MBTA’s 177 escalators are “regularly inspected and maintained”. We are still working to find out when this particular escalator was last inspected@boston25 https://t.co/C145GD9h8t
— Julianne Lima (@JulianneLimaTV) September 27, 2021
“People panicked, some screamed,” another witness told Boston 25 News.
The escalator is now out of service while the incident is investigated.
Back Bay T Incident: Shortly after 6pm multiple units responded for an incident at Back Bay T station. A total of 9 patients were transported to area hospitals with injuries reported to be minor in nature.
— Boston EMS (@BOSTON_EMS) September 26, 2021
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