Woman loses her leg after getting caught in an airport travelator: Passengers’ horror as moving walkway at Bangkok airport mangles victim’s limb forcing medics to amputate it in order to free her

Woman tripped and got stuck in machine at Don Mueang International Airport
WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT
By OLIVIA JONES

A female tourist has had her leg amputated after getting it caught in a moving walkway at Bangkok airport.

The 57-year-old Thai passenger was due to board a flight from Bangkok’s Don Mueang Airport to the southern Nakhon Si Thammarat province this morning in the airport’s Terminal 2.

But in a freak accident, she tripped over her pink suitcase before her left leg was dragged into the mechanism at the end of the travelator.

Horrified passersby fumbled to turn off the emergency switch as the machine continued tearing through the limb’s muscle, tendon, and bone.

A medical team there eventually had to cut her left leg off from above the knee, according to the airport’s officials. She was then taken to Bhumibol Adulyadej Hospital in the capital for emergency treatment.

A female tourist has had her leg amputated after getting it caught in a moving walkway at Bangkok airport

Horrified passengers at Don Mueang International Airport scrambled to switch off the machine which was ripping through her flesh

The medical team at the hospital said she was initially sent to Karun where she was told that they could not reattach her leg, but the woman requested to be transferred to another hospital to assess the possibility.

Airport authorities have ordered a probe to determine the cause of the accident.

A suitcase lying near her was missing two wheels, and the yellow comb-like plates were seen broken off from where they typically cover the edge of the belt where the moving walkway ends.

In the meantime, the travelator automatic walkway has been closed as an engineering team conducts an inspection and security checks.

In a statement, the Don Mueang Airport said: ‘The director of Don Mueang Airport and management has visited the patient to follow up on the treatment and received information from the medical team at Bhumibol Hospital that she is currently in the process of receiving treatment from the medical team.

‘Don Mueang Airport is deeply saddened by the incident and ready to fully accept the responsibility as well as take care of the medical expenses and compensation.’

The airport said no flights were delayed due to the accident.

Don Mueang International Airport (DMK) serving Bangkok opened in 1914 but was replaced by the new Suvarnabhumi International Airport (BKK) on the outskirts of the city in 2006.

The walkway was manufactured by Japanese company Hitachi and was installed in 1996, the airport director said, adding that there is a plan to request for a budget to change to a newer model in 2025.

In 2019, a passenger’s shoe was damaged after it was caught in the airport’s moving walkway in Terminal 1. The airport released a statement afterward saying the faulty walkway was repaired and reopened in about an hour.

The passenger was rushed to Bhumibol Adulyadej Hospital in the capital for emergency treatment

The woman reportedly tripped over her pink suitcase (pictured with damage) before falling onto the travelator

The terrifying incident comes just days after an airport worker was killed after being sucked into an engine on the tarmac of San Antonio International Airport.

Emergency services responded to the nightmare incident at around 10.25pm on Friday night.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) confirmed the airline ground crew member died after they went into the engine of a Delta Airlines aircraft. The agency described the worker as being ‘ingested’ into the engine.

The plane had just arrived from Los Angeles and was taxying to a gate at the time of the accident.

Delta Flight 1111 had just one engine on at the time when the worker, who is yet to be identified, was sucked in and killed.

Earlier this year an 11-year-old schoolboy suffered a broken jaw after he got his head trapped between a balcony and an escalator while riding the moving stairway at a metro station in Russia.

Video shows frantic efforts to free Misha after he got his head and hands stuck in between the escalator and an overhanging glass partition next to it.

Misha had been going up the escalator with his father when he rested his head on his hands on the moving rail, not seeing the danger from an unsafe design.

The 11-year-old was pulled under the overhanging structure and became trapped at the metro station in Okruzhnaya, a northern suburb in Moscow.

First his arms were pulled in, then his head became wedged as the rest of his body was pulled updated.

The boy’s frantic father tried to pull him out, but failed, and passersby also sought to help.

The escalator kept moving making efforts more difficult to rescue the anguished child.

Eventually, reports said, the escalator was halted and emergency staff were able to free the boy and paramedics rushed the boy to hospital.

Misha suffered multiple fractures including a dislocation of the lower jaw, as well as head wounds and severe bruising.

In 2019, a two-year-old toddler nearly lost his right arm after it was sucked into a moving escalator at a mall in central China.

Terrifying footage showed the boy falling backwards on the steps of the downward escalator before being dragged into the mechanics, with his horrified mother screaming for help.

A security guard immediately rushed over and pressed the emergency button, just as the trapped boy reaches the foot of the escalator.

Firefighters were able to free the boy in 30 minutes and he was taken to hospital with unspecified non-critical injuries, according to Xinhua News.

A two-year-old toddler nearly lost his right arm after it was sucked into a moving escalator at a shopping mall in Yuanjiang, Hunan province. central China on Friday

Surveillance video shows the two-year-old riding the escalator with his mother when he suddenly fell backwards and ended up trapped.

His panicking mother was unable to lift the child up as the steps continue to move downwards, putting the boy’s life in great danger.

In 2018, a commuter was swallowed by an escalator after it collapsed during rush hour in Turkey.

CCTV footage shows a stream of people walking down the escalator, which was out of action for repairs, at Ayazaga Metro station in Istanbul.

But it suddenly began moving causing a line of people to simultaneously fall down the metal stairs, with some trying to grip on to the handrail.

One man, who the Turkish media named as Mehmet Ali Erik, at that moment stepped on but a section opened up leaving large gaping hole that swallowed him.

The escalator, with the victim still underneath, then kept moving for a few seconds before coming to halt.

Witnesses stood for a few moments before they rushed to the edge of the hole and looked down to check on Mr Erik’s condition.

The victim was reportedly trapped for one hour under the metal stairs before being rescued by firefighters and being sent to hospital.