A five-year-old boy died in Hokkaido, Japan after his right arm got caught on a travelator at a popular ski resort during a family trip on Sunday (Dec 28).
The victim, Hinata Goto who hails from Sapporo, was riding the travelator with his family from the parking lot to the ski slope at the Asarigawa Onsen Ski Resort in Otaru. He was wearing ski wear and boots.
The boy fell as he was getting off the travelator and his right arm got caught in the machinery at about 10am, according to local news reports.
The travelator’s safety mechanism failed to activate automatically and the belt only halted when the boy’s mother hit the emergency stop button.
Firefighters dismantled parts of the travelator to free the boy about 40minutes after the accident. He was taken unconscious to hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
A representative of the resort apologised for the accident, pledging to determine the cause and take measures to prevent a similar incident from happening, reported Kyodo News.
The travelator’s emergency function, designed to stop the travelator if a foreign object is trapped, had operated properly during a routine inspection earlier that day, said resort officials.
The Asahi Shimbun reported that the travelator is about 60cm wide, barely enough for an adult to stand, with no handrails.
A man in his 70s who visits the resort frequently told Kyodo News that there were several points on the walkway where the slope changes and the belt shakes, adding that he had stumbled on it before and thought it was dangerous.
Another regular patron told Asahi Shimbun, “Even as an adult, there are times when I think, ‘It’s a little scary’.”
Police in Hokkaido have launched an investigation, which media reports said could result in charges of professional negligence resulting in death.
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esther.lam@asiaone.com
AloJapan.com