Woman's leg amputated after being caught in airport walkway
A 57-year-old woman lost her leg after being caught in an airport walkway — also known as a “travelator” — in Bangkok, Thailand.
Don Mueang Airport confirmed the incident on its official Facebook page.
On Thursday, around 8:30 am local time, a traveller boarding a flight to the Thai city of Nakhon Si Thammarat was making her way through the walkway when her foot was caught in the space between the plates. This happened at the end area of the walkway.
Local news outlet The Thaiger reports that the woman collapsed and her leg was “drawn into the machine up to the kneecap.”
The shocking and disturbing incident was caught on the airport’s CCTV cameras. Some people also filmed the woman while her leg was still trapped in the machine. Her videos and photos have been shared across social media.
“From the CCTV footage, it appears that the passenger’s left leg was struck by a suitcase while she was on the escalator,” Airport Director Karun Thanakunjeeraphat told media. “She subsequently fell, and her leg was pulled down.”
Airport management said the woman was flown to a hospital by the Royal Thai Airforce Medical Department for immediate treatment. By 1 pm, she was transported to another hospital for further treatment.
Unfortunately, the woman’s leg was so mangled it had to be amputated.
The walkway has been temporarily turned off, and authorities are investigating whether the accident happened due to a defect or negligence.
Thai PBS World reports that this isn’t the first time something as such has happened at Don Mueang International.
In July 2019, a man travelling to Osaka, Japan, shared pictures on Facebook documenting how his shoe was pulled into the walkway with extreme force. Luckily, the shoe came off, and his leg remained safe.
Don Mueang International says it has carried out several inspections since.
An advisor to the mechanical engineering committee of the Thai Engineering Institute of Thailand told Thai PBS World that the accident on Thursday may have occurred due to a small object falling into the end of the walkway.
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