Boy, five, dies after his arm is trapped in ski slope travellator in Japan
A five-year-old boy died after becoming trapped on a moving ski escalator in front of his horrified family.
Hinata Goto’s right arm was trapped inside the travel device for 40 minutes as the child slowly lost consciousness, forcing rescuers to completely disassemble the machine.
Goto tried to step on the escalator while skiing with his family at Asarigawa Onsen Ski Resort in Otaru, Japan’s ski capital Hokkaido, on Sunday.
Police said that the young boy fell near the exit of the machine because his right arm got stuck in the return part of the escalator.
The machine continued spinning for several seconds until Goto’s distraught mother pressed the emergency stop button.
Emergency services arrived at the scene and fire crews attempted to remove him from the arch at around 10am.
They had to dismantle an entire section of the escalator to finally free the kindergartener, who lost consciousness during the desperate rescue attempt.
After his release, Goto was hospitalized and tragically pronounced dead a short time later.
While investigations have begun into the tragic accident, authorities are investigating why the rover did not automatically stop when Goto first fell into the trap.
Following the incident, police said the machine was equipped with a safety mechanism that had worked before but did not activate this time.
The stroller was installed just six years ago and is under 100ft long. It is 24 inches wide, has no guardrails on either side, and is used to connect the resort’s parking lot to the ski slopes.
According to Japanese local media, visitors had previously expressed concerns about the machine.
‘Even as an adult, there are times when I think, ‘It’s a bit scary,’ one regular skier told the Asahi Shimbun.
A representative of Asarigawa Onsen Ski Resort apologized for the incident and promised to take action to prevent such a tragedy from happening again.
This is breaking news. More to follow.
