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11-Year-Old California Girl Rescued After Her Hand Became Stuck In A Mall Escalator

zhu difeng - stock.adobe.com - illustrative purpose only, not the actual person

On July 31, an eleven-year-old girl visited the MainPlace Mall located in Santa Ana, California.

When traveling between the mall’s floors on an escalator, though, the girl’s hand tragically became trapped inside the escalator’s handrail. The incident took place at about 6:30 p.m. that Sunday.

Michael Morgenstern, the Orange County Fire Authority Battalion Chief, explained his bewilderment at the bizarre occurrence.

“I do not know how this happened,” Morgenstern said.

Nonetheless, emergency crews quickly arrived on the scene and assessed the girl’s health state. She was found to be in stable condition, so first responders then began trying to remove her hand from the escalator.

They ended up working to dismantle a portion of the machine for over an hour before finally freeing the girl.

And thankfully, they were able to do so without causing her hand any more injury.

Following the rescue, the eleven-year-old was transported to a local hospital for treatment and is recovering well. But, Morgenstern also reiterated how escalators need to be ridden cautiously and how users should always place their hands above the rails.

And if this is the first incident of an escalator-related injury you have heard about, you might be shocked to learn that the events are much more common than you may have previously thought.

zhu difeng – stock.adobe.com – illustrative purpose only, not the actual person

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