VIDEO: Terrifying scene unfolds as escalator breaks at Flyers game
An escalator malfunctioned at Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, sending Flyers fans crashing to the ground in a terrifying scene.
By
Chris Peters
•
1 min read
A terrifying scene played out at Wells Fargo Center as Philadelphia Flyers fans were filing out of the building following the team’s win over the Ottawa Senators.
With a large crowd of people riding the escalator down to leave the building, suddenly something malfunctioned, sending the fans speeding down the steps. People were actually being thrown from the escalator and crashing into each other as they reached the bottom. Some tried to bail out over the sides once they got closer to the ground as the pileup grew larger.
This would be a terrifying scenario for anyone, but especially for parents with small kids. This video, which was originally posted to Broad Street Hockey and since posted to YouTube, was shot soon after the escalator disaster started to unfold.
Surprisingly and thankfully, there have been no reports of serious injuries according to Philly.com.
Several people who witnessed this unfold, shared what they saw. It sounds like that a lot of people rushed in to help their fellow fans:
wfc escalator just broke. literally sent down an entire crowd from the second level at full speed. people were rushing to help.
— collin mehalick (@collin) April 2, 2016
wasn't on it. watching from concourse below. think a belt broke. a whole crowd rushed to help those sent down. https://t.co/2PwGWPbrMG
— collin mehalick (@collin) April 2, 2016
Barely escaped a disaster. That was scary
— Mike Deej (@mikedeej97) April 2, 2016
Ike Richman, a spokesman for Comcast Spectator, which owns the Flyers and Wells Fargo Center, issued the following statement to NBC 10 in Philadelphia:
“We immediately closed it down to protect our patrons and notified the operator,” said Richman. “We are working with the operator on investigating this incident. We did not use that particular escalator during tonight's Sixers game. We expect it to be working in time for Tuesday's Sixers game, which is our next event.”
This surreal scene looks like a worst nightmare realized. Thankfully, as it appears now, no one was seriously injured and the situation is getting resolved.
[H/T UPROXX]
