The Mass Transit Railway said a loose screw was to blame for causing an escalator breakdown at Kwun Tong Station in Kowloon on Monday.
According to video footage uploaded by local actor Ka Li on Facebook, the top footplate of an escalator at Kwun Tong MTR station broke and fell apart, leaving a big hole in the escalator steps.
Li noted that he heard a loud sound that made him turn around to find the escalator broken down. Some passengers who were riding the escalator at the time of the breakdown had to jump from the crushed steps.
Video footage showed passengers continuing to come up from the concourse for at least one minute before MTR staff arrived.
The railway operator confirmed that the accident happened at 5:05pm at an escalator connecting the concourse and the platform at Kwun Tong Station, news website HK01.com reported.
It said contractors found a screw which they believed had damaged the top of the escalator when it became lodged between two steps. No injuries were reported.
At least three cases of escalator breakdown have hit Kwun Tong Station in the past six months.