Category Archives: Fall Over Handrail

Denver, CO – Broncos fan severely injured after falling from escalator at Sports Authority Field

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An adult male was severely injured on August 30, 2013, around 9:30p.m. local time, when he apparently fell from an escalator at Sports Authority Field at Mile High in Denver, Colorado, the home stadium of the Denver Broncos. The stadium was hosting a pre-season game between the Broncos and the Arizona Cardinals when the incident occurred. Denver police released few details about the man, the extent of his injuries, or whether alcohol may have been a factor. However police did confirm that they were investigating the incident as an accident, and that the victim was conscious and breathing when he was transported to a nearby hospital after suffering serious injuries from his fall. ABC7, The Denver Channel, reported that eyewitnesses stated that the man may have suffered from a medical condition which caused him to lose his balance.

Sources reporting this story include:

Bellevue, WA – 24 year old man dies after three story fall from shopping mall escalator

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According to Bellevue Patch, a 24-year-old man died after falling three stories at Lincoln Square shopping center in Bellevue, Washington. A police spokeswoman stated that the man, identified as Joel Bush, attempted to ride the escalator by sitting and balancing on the handrail. The man apparently lost his balance and fell backward into the atrium, falling sixty feet. According to police, alcohol was initially suspected to be a factor but ultimately did not appear to contribute to the man’s death.

Read the full story by Bellevue Patch, published December 30, 2011.

Unfortunately despite that this scenario is completely preventable, it is rather common especially for teens and young adults to attempt to “ride” the escalator handrail, either by sitting on the handrail, or holding onto the handrail from the outside of the balustrade. It is interesting to note that escalator handrails are often shorter than the permanent railings that protect an atrium’s open space.

Shiodome, Tokyo, Japan – 45 year-old man suffers fatal fall after leaning against escalator handrail

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Satoshi Katayama was killed in April 2009 after he leaned backwards against an escalator handrail which then lifted him off his feet and over the the handrail, dropping him to his death into an open atrium nearly 30 feet high. Surveillance video of the incident depicts the victim briefly leaning against the handrail before being carried over the balustrade and falling to his death. The Yomiuri Shimbun reported that Japan’s Consumer Safety Investigation Commission is reviewing the accident as of June 27, 2013, in light of the recently published results of an investigation by the Japanese Ministry of Land. The Land Ministry investigation concluded that safety barriers could have prevented the accident, but noted that the Japanese Building Standards Law did not require their installation.

Sources reporting this story include: