A woman narrowly escaped injury when an escalator in the Mong Kok MTR station in Kowloon broke apart under her feet on Thursday. At 7pm, a passenger was traveling from the platform to the concourse when she heard a loud bang when she walked off the escalator, the Apple Daily reported.
The woman said the top footplate had broken and fallen apart. Passengers behind her on the escalator were unhurt and helped off by MTR staff.
An MTR spokesperson said staff cordoned off the area immediately. The incident was not the first involving escalators in Hong Kong in the past few years. On May 18 , two accidents involving escalators happened in Kwun Tong and at the Disneyland Resort station, causing injuries to a woman and her child.
Wilson Or Chong-shing, a lawmaker with the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong, criticized the MTR for failing to maintain its facilities while increasing fares and making a large profit.
On May 27, the MTR announced it would increase fares by 3.14% on average, starting from June 30. Last year, the company saw its net profit rise 64% to HK$16.8 billion (US$2.1 billion).