Eight people were taken to the hospital for treatment of minor injuries after they were injured in an amusement park escalator accident at Universal Studios on November 17, 2008, the Los Angeles Daily News reports. The accident occurred at the theme park at 3900 Lankershim Boulevard after the escalator started to suddenly malfunction. Park officials said the escalator, which connects two levels of the park, came to sudden stop and for unknown reasons went into reverse, throwing visitors off their feet and down the stairwell. The malfunctioning escalator was also situated on a hillside.
It is fortunate that there were no serious injuries as a result of this escalator malfunction. I hope the injuries described in this newspaper article as “minor” were in fact minor and wish the injured victims the very best for a speedy recovery.
Escalator accidents happen rarely, but when they do happen, it could result in serious injuries such as loss of limbs or fingers. More serious injuries such as head or spinal injuries could result where victims suffer a fall. In some cases, escalator accidents have resulted in deaths.
In this case, there is no question that Universal Studios will be held liable for injuries caused to the visitors who were using that escalator. It seems to me that this amusement park’s workers may have dropped the ball on maintaining that hillside escalator. Escalators are supposed to be maintained periodically and that is especially true in the case of an amusement park where the escalators are constantly used day and night by tens of thousands of people.
The same applies to escalators and elevators that are operated in other public places such as hotels, malls, shopping centers and airports. If an injured victim can prove that the injuries happened because of the property owner’s negligence than he or she is entitled to compensation. An experienced premises liability attorney may be able to help victims who have suffered such injuries. Those who have been injured in this 11/17/08 amusement park escalator accident will be entitled to compensation for any medical expenses and incidental expenses they have incurred as a result of their injuries.