Shopper narrowly escapes escalator collapse at KL's Mid Valley Megamall, warns others to stay alert

[UPDATE July 1] 

Mid Valley Megamall's management, IGB Real Estate Investment Trust (IGB Reit), has apologised for the escalator malfunction at the mall.

"We understand that this incident has caused distress to our shoppers and the general public," IGB Reit said in response to The Straits Times' queries.

"We are relieved that there were no injuries, and continue to advise all mall patrons to exercise caution when using the escalators."

The management added that it will work with Malaysia's Department of Occupational Safety and Health and its maintenance operator Toshiba Elevator (Malaysia) to identify the cause of the malfunction.

"We take this incident very seriously, and will ensure all precautionary measures are implemented to resolve this matter as soon as possible and to prevent future occurrences," said IGB Reit.

"We are committed to providing a safe and comfortable environment for all who come to our mall."

A shopper at the Mid Valley Megamall in Kuala Lumpur was startled when the escalator she was on suddenly malfunctioned.

The woman detailed her experience in a post titled "Mid Valley KL, escape from death" uploaded to Xiaohongshu yesterday (June 28).

While on the escalator, she had heard a loud noise and saw some parts of the escalator ahead of her "pop out", she wrote.

She, alongside other shoppers, immediately ran back down to safety and nobody was hurt, according to the post which has garnered over 1,000 likes.

The shopper wrote that she still feels scared thinking back on the incident and cautioned everyone to stay alert while taking escalators.

"Don't listen to music too loudly when using headphones, so you can run away as soon as possible if something happens," she advised.

Some netizens who came across the post said they had experienced escalator malfunctions at Mid Valley Megamall too.

One commenter wrote: "Once when my colleagues and I went to pack food, the escalator stopped suddenly. We were standing in the middle, luckily no one fell."

"I was going up to Mid Valley from the train station and was the only one on the escalator when it suddenly stopped and I lurched forward. If it stopped while I was going down, I would have rolled down," wrote another netizen.

Pictures included in the Xiaohongshu post show the top step of the escalator completely detached and some other parts protruding. It is unclear what caused the malfunction.

AsiaOne has contacted Mid Valley Megamall for more information.

In May 2023, a fire broke out at the mall, forcing its operators to shut the shopping centre for a day, reported The Straits Times.

The cause of the fire was believed to be the overheating of oil used to cool an electrical transformer at the mall's main power substation, a fire department official told Malaysian media.

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bhavya.rawat@asiaone.com

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