A situation of nightmares happened in Rome on Tuesday when a malfunction caused an escalator to speed up and jam passengers into a chaotic crowd as they descended. Italian officials said 20 people were injured, CNN reports.
A 20-second clip circulating on Twitter shows the horrifying accident in action. People can be heard yelling and screaming as the escalator rapidly hurls them downward and into bedlam; a brave few clamber to the median of the escalator and try to pull others being trampled from the crowd.
BREAKING: Escalator out of control at metro station in Rome, causing multiple injuries https://t.co/fRvt6Crs5l
— BNO News (@BNONews) October 23, 2018
CNN reports that most of the people involved in the incident were Russian soccer fans headed to see Roma play CSKA Moscow in a Champions League match.
It’s unclear what caused the escalator’s malfunction, but local authorities are investigating. Rome’s fire brigade tweeted a photo of the damaged escalator.
#Roma #23ott 19:45, cede scala mobile #metroA stazione #repubblica: intervento #vigilidelfuoco in corso per soccorso ai feriti pic.twitter.com/TVAsgYD8Zd
— Vigili del Fuoco (@vigilidelfuoco) October 23, 2018
The mayor of Rome, Virginia Raggi, said in a Facebook live video that she expresses “solidarity to the injured.”
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