20 People Hurt After Soccer Fans Break Escalator While Heading To Stadium

At least 20 people were injured after an escalator broke, sending dozens of people falling to the ground. Around 80 people were riding the escalator at the Repubblica metro station in Rome, Italy when it suddenly lurched out of control causing people to fall forward and tumble down into a crowd at the bottom.

According to La Repubblica, most the people on the escalator were CSKA Moscow soccer fans, who were on their way to watch their team take on AS Roma at the Olympic Stadium. As the fans cheered, chanted and jumped up and down on the escalator, part of it broke, causing at least one person to get their foot stuck in the machine, while everybody else collapsed around them at the bottom. 

"The scene that we found was people piled up at the bottom of the escalator," Rome provincial fire chief Giampietro Boscaino said. "People one on the top of the other looking for help. They had various injuries caused by the escalator that was twisted, therefore serious injuries."

At least five of the people are in critical condition, and one person reportedly needed to have his foot amputated

Video of the incident captured people on the other side trying to pull people off the escalator, while others jumped onto the middle section and safely climbed down. Roman authorities shared a photo of the mangled escalator on Twitter, along with a video showing firefighters and paramedics rescuing people and getting them medical attention.


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