Boston Escalator Malfunction Sends Nine to Hospital

Officials say nine people were taken to the hospital on Sunday, September 26, when an escalator malfunctioned at the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) Back Bay station in Boston after the New Orleans Saints and New England Patriots U.S. National Football League game, Boston.com is among outlets to report. Witnesses report that the escalator reversed direction, causing dozens to fall, resulting in a pile of people at the bottom of the escalator. Officials have since closed the escalator as investigators work to establish the facts and circumstances around the incident. MBTA spokesman Joe Pesaturo said in an email Monday that the agency and escalator maintenance company will be “guided by the findings of the investigation, and take whatever actions are warranted.” WBZ-TV in Boston reports that MBTA says inspectors checked the escalator three weeks before it malfunctioned. The station also reports that more than 20 people were hurt in a 1996 malfunction at the same subway station, and in 2011, another malfunction hurt five others.