BOSTON (WHDH) - A newly released video shows the terrifying moment an escalator at Back Bay Station malfunctioned in September, creating a pile of injured bodies on the ground below as dozens of riders careened backward at a high rate of speed and landed on top of each other.
The Commuter Rail had dropped off hundreds of passengers who had been at the Patriots-Saints game in Foxboro on Sept. 26, including visitors from New Orleans. As they rode up the escalator to street level, the escalator suddenly began running in reverse, the video showed.
The escalator riders tumbled backward, where the escalator continued to grind and shred the limbs of people who struggled to escape the pileup.
More than a dozen people were hospitalized with cuts, bruises, and broken bones following the incident, officials said.
The escalator was immediately taken out of service.
The MBTA contracts with a company named KONE to inspect and maintain the escalators, and the escalator was issued an inspection certificate on July 30, 2021.
In a statement issued after the incident, KONE said, “We are working closely with the MBTA and other appropriate authorities to gather the facts and determine what may have caused the incident that occurred at the Back Bay station Sunday, and our thoughts go out to those who sustained injuries.”
Two families from Louisiana have since filed a lawsuit against the MBTA and KONE.
“The families are aware of the release of the video and obviously viewing it causes them to relive the incident. They continue to recover and still face a long road following this incident,” lawyers representing the families said in a statement.
The MBTA vowed to thoroughly investigate the mishap.
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