Man calls mall’s attention after his shoe gets stuck in escalator

SINGAPORE: After his sandal got wedged in an escalator of a mall, a man posted a letter he wrote to the management, calling attention to safety concerns.

On the COMPLAINT SINGAPORE Facebook page earlier this week,  Ang Tiong Lin wrote that the incident occurred at Sengkang Grand Mall on Nov 17 at around 7:30 in the evening.

As Mr Ang was taking the escalator to get to the food court on the second floor, the sandal on his right foot got stuck between the escalator grooves.

He wrote that there was “noticeable damage” to his “newly purchased sandals, but it was fortunate that it was not his toes that were stuck in the mechanism.

“I shudder to think of the potential consequences had they been,” he wrote, adding, “The outcome could have been catastrophic, posing serious safety risks to patrons.”

Mr Ang went on to “strongly urge” the management of the mall to inspect and assess the escalator to make sure that it is functioning well.

Otherwise, he said, the safety of visitors would be jeopardised.

He added that a more severe accident could occur in the future and trusted that the management would treat the incident with his slipper seriously in order to prevent such incidents.

Such incidents are not unheard of in Singapore, where wearing slippers and sandals is not uncommon due to the warm weather. This type of shoe has been known to get stuck in escalators. With closed shoes such as athletic or formal shoes, this is not as likely to happen.

Last July, officers from the Singapore Civil Defence Force freed a young boy whose foot got stuck in an escalator at Jurong Point.

The boy, who had been wearing Crocs-type shoes, was taken to the National University Hospital after the incident.

In September 2023, an Australian news site reported that Crocs had been banned from airports, train stations, and shopping centres after a series of worrying incidents occurred involving the shoes.

Crocs, which are made of foam, are popular among children and even some adults as they are easy to put on and are non-slip.

However, following multiple incidents, signs were posted on escalators banning the shoes, which can get sucked into and caught on the moving stairs’ mechanism.

The Independent Singapore has reached out to the post author, as well as to Sengkang Grand Mall, for further updates or comments. /TISG

Read also: SCDF called in after boy’s foot gets stuck in escalator at Jewel Changi