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Woman in China loses leg after getting trapped in escalator, but witnesses say it was her fault https://www.asiaone.com/china/woman-china-loses-leg-after-getting-trapped-escalator-witnesses-say-it-was-her-fault?xtor=EREC-16-4%5BEmarsys_Newsletter%5D-20190724&extid=6934d0cfb7b252f1ae9f0dbddf5ff88ca8637e77 An elderly woman lost her left leg in yet another escalator accident in China after half her body appeared to be 'swallowed' by the machinery. But witnesses say the victim may not have been entirely blameless after all. The freak incident occurred on Saturday (July 20) in a shopping mall in the Heilongjiang capital city of Harbin. Viral social media footage showed the shopper, believed to be in her 60s, holding onto the escalator handle while she remained trapped waist down in a gap. According to China News, by the time firefighters were able to free her, her left leg had already been severed at the knee and her right foot mangled. Family members claim that the escalator had been running normally before the steps gave way. "There wasn't even anywhere for her to jump to," one of them can be heard saying in a video by Pear Video. However, multiples witnesses say otherwise. Several eyewitnesses interviewed said that the woman had insisted on going on the escalator despite barricades surrounding it. "The escalator was under repairs, there were barricades all around. She removed the barricades. The escalator was just fixed and they were still testing it!" one shopkeeper told the camera. Said a bystander: "It was still under maintenance but she insisted. You couldn't stop her at all." Another witness agreed, saying: "They were still testing the escalator when she insisted on going on it. So she stepped on and everything gave way." The actual cause of the accident is still under investigation by authorities. Fortunately, the victim is now in a stable condition after undergoing emergency surgery at a local hospital. [email protected]

Hats off to them P.s its not father and son. Sorry for misleading title Chinese boy, 11, who lost legs in car accident, just fails in attempt to climb sacred mountain with his hands http://m.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2018383/chinese-boy-11-who-lost-legs-car-accident-just-fails-attempt Chinese boy Gao Zhiyu, 11, climbed 900 metres up Mount Lao, in China’s eastern Shandong province, before having to stop because of severe blister. Photo: SCMP Pictures. A Chinese boy of 11 who lost his legs in a car accident has just failed in his attempt to climb to the top of a more than 1,100 metre-high sacred mountain – just using his arms and hands, mainland media reports. Gao Zhiyu had been trying to reach the summit of Mount Lao, the birthplace of Taoism, in Qingdao, on the coast of the Shandong Peninsula, Qingdao Evening News reported. He managed to reach a height of 900 metres – using wooden boxes held in his hands as “shoes” as he climbed the route made of stone steps – before giving up his attempt because of severe blisters on his hands. “If I was given more time, I could slowly climb to the summit ... next time, I must make it to the top,” Gao, from Qingdao, was quoted by the newspaper as saying. He was accompanied on his first attempt at climbing a mountain by Chen Zhou, a man who also lost both his legs in an accident. Chen has walked to more than 700 cities on the mainland on his hands. The self-help lecturer has also climbed to the top of more than 100 mountains, including Mount Tai and Mount Huang. Chen said he had felt obliged to try to give Gao a little support when he heard about his planned climb up the mountain. He said it was a shame that Gao did not make it to the summit. “I don’t think he is trying to conquer nature, nor other people. All the challenges he takes on are just to conquer his own fears about his limitations,” he said. Bad weather during their climb, including a thunderstorm and heavy rain, had make their attempt very difficult, the report said. The steps up the mountain were also steep and winding, and became slippery from the rain. After they had reached a height of 500 metres the climbers both needed to take a rest after almost every turn. The two began their climb at 9.30am on Saturday, but by 3.30pm Gao had to admit defeat because of the severe blisters on his hands.