- A woman's lower left leg had to be cut off after it was caught in a moving walkway at an airport, per AP News.
- The 57-year-old was trapped beneath the belt at the end of the walkway at Don Mueang Airport in Bangkok.
A woman's lower left leg had to be amputated after it was trapped in a freak accident involving a moving walkway at Bangkok's Don Mueang International Airport on Thursday, AP News reported.
The 57-year-old Thai passenger was about to board a flight to a different province when she was sucked into the gears at the end of the travelator at the airport's Terminal 2, per AP.
In order to free her from the moving walkway, the medical responders had to cut her leg off from above the knee, AP News reported, citing airport officials.
Local Thai news outlet Khaosod said that the woman had fallen and got sucked into the travelator's mechanism after a suitcase hit her.
Graphic images circulating online show the woman sitting at the end of the travelator belt, with her left leg stuck beneath the plate that hides the moving walkway's mechanisms. Other photos depict the end of the moving walkway belt with its yellow safety plate broken off as well as a pink suitcase with two missing wheels.
The woman was brought to Bhumibol Adulyadej Hospital in Bangkok after she was freed, per Khaosod. However, she requested to be transferred to Bumrungrad International Hospital — a private hospital — for a second opinion when the first hospital informed her that they were unable to reattach her leg.
Don Mueang Airport Director Karun Thanakuljeerapat apologized for the incident during a press conference and said that the airport will compensate the woman for her medical costs, per AP News.
"On behalf of the Don Mueang International Airport, I'd like to express my deepest condolences regarding the accident," Thanakuljeerapat said. "I'd like to insist that we will ensure that no such accident will happen again."
Thanakuljeerapat says that airport staff check the moving walkways daily, and the travelator where the incident happened has been closed for further investigations, per AP News.
He added that the travelator — manufactured by Hitachi — was installed in 1996 and was due to be changed in 2025, per AP News.
Accidents involving travelators and escalators are not uncommon.
In September 2008, a Japanese toddler lost her toe in a Singapore shopping mall after her shoe got caught between the escalator steps, per The Japan Times.
In July 2015, a woman in China was killed after she fell into an escalator shaft when the metal panel she was standing on gave way, per CNN.
In August 2019, a young child had her arm sucked into the escalator when she forgot to let go of the handrail. Luckily, she did not sustain any major injuries, per The New Zealand Herald.
Don Mueang International Airport did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Insider.