At least 14 people were injured, three of them in critical condition, when an escalator unexpectedly reversed direction at a busy subway station in South Korea.
The incident occurred at Sunae Station in Bundang, south of Seoul, during the morning rush hour.
Alarming security footage captured the moment when the escalator, intended to go up, suddenly began moving downward, causing panicked passengers to tumble down the stairs and resulting in a pile-up at the base. One person fell onto the adjacent escalator. The South Korean Fire Service was alerted about the accident at 8:20 am local time.
Law enforcement and fire officials disclosed that three people were hospitalized with severe back and leg injuries, while eleven others received treatment for minor wounds. Photos taken at the scene showed first responders administering first aid to the victims, including a woman lying on the floor at the exit of the building. Subsequently, the malfunctioning escalator was cordoned off, and the fire department announced its plans to investigate the cause of the incident.
A local resident, aged 68, expressed astonishment, stating, “I thought people were filming a disaster movie after seeing so many people crowded around the fenced exit.” The maintenance company responsible for the escalator had conducted a routine inspection in May, during which no issues were reported. The Korea Elevator Safety Agency conducts annual inspections of escalators.
The Railroad Special Judicial Police Unit, operating under the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport, will be leading the investigation into the accident. Gyeonggi Governor Kim Dong-Yeon took to Twitter, assuring the public that authorities, including the fire services, are diligently working to determine the cause and prevent similar incidents from happening again.