A Hong Kong mother has issued a warning to other parents after her toddler’s Crocs shoe became trapped in an escalator in Central over the weekend.
Danielle Roman, a lawyer who grew up in Hong Kong, was out shopping with her daughter, who turns 3 years old on Tuesday, when the toddler’s pink Crocs sandal became stuck in the escalator at Alexandra House on Sunday afternoon.
“She was screaming as her foot was stuck and leg twisting with each second at an awkward angle,” Roman wrote in a post on Facebook group Hong Kong Moms. “Thankfully we were with a very good friend, who ran to push the emergency stop button while I barely ripped my daughter’s foot out of the Croc on time.”
The mother told HKFP she couldn’t figure out how the shoe got caught.
“She was not playing on the escalator and was simply standing next to me quietly holding my hand, and as far as I was aware, her foot did not appear to be too close to the edge at all.”
There was no security guard there even after the emergency button was pushed, Roman said. She added that she was going to write to Hongkong Land, the company that owns the building, about the incident. “It must be on camera,” Roman told HKFP.
Management at Alexandra House told HKFP that according to CCTV footage, the girl’s foot was “quite close” to the edge of the escalator. The company will ask experts to inspect the escalator Monday night, but will not suspend operation of the machine for the time being.
Recent escalator accidents including one in which a Chinese mother was killed by a shopping mall escalator drew public concern.
Watch the video below to see how easily a Crocs shoe can be mangled by an escalator.
