Father-of-two dies in freak escalator accident as people walk past without helping
A father-of-two has died after becoming trapped in an escalator at a busy subway station in Boston.
CCTV footage obtained by NBC10 Boston showed commuters walk past without helping Steven McCluskey, who suffered fatal injuries after falling at the bottom of a moving escalator at Davis Station in Somerville.
The 40-year-old went towards the train platform and collapsed at the bottom of the escalator shortly after 5am on 27 February.
His clothes became entangled in the escalator and despite his struggles, passengers continued to pass by, the footage shows.
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The carpenter was trapped for a further 22 minutes before the emergency stop button was finally pressed by an Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) employee.
By then, first responders found him without a pulse and he died in hospital 10 days later.
Firefighters later discovered McCluskey’s clothing had been pulled tightly into the escalator, constricting his throat, while parts of the skin on his back had also become trapped in the machinery.
According to the footage, more than a dozen commuters saw McCluskey lying at the bottom of the escalator.
While some briefly paused or looked toward him before walking away, one man reportedly attempted to pull him free for a few seconds before giving up.
A 911 call was not made until roughly 18 minutes after he first fell.
"He's laid out flat with his head on the bottom step,” the caller said.
"The fact that his death could have been prevented or avoided, and it wasn't — I want to know why," Shannon Flaherty, McCluskey's younger sister, told the outlet.
Her mother Mary Flaherty added: "Where was security? Where were the red coats that are supposed to be on all the floors from the time it opens to the time it closes?
"How, at a busy train station, does nobody stop, nobody see him?"
In a statement, an MBTA spokesperson called it a 'terrible accident'.
"MBTA personnel respond swiftly to all emergencies and do everything they can to assist individuals and secure the situation," the statement said.
"He loved building things," Mary said. "He loved his children and loved being a dad.
"He did his best every single day to show up for the people that he loved in the ways that he could."
Family members said he had been struggling with addiction in recent years, as Shannon added: "He did his best every single day to show up for the people that he loved in the ways that he could."
The incident remains under investigation by the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office.
LADbible Group has contacted the MBTA and the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office for more information.
Topics: US News
Anish Vij