Man swallowed by gap in escalators at Turkish train station

If you’re someone who feels uneasy about escalators, this really isn’t going to help you.

Because even if you have a normal, rational relationship with the automated robot stairs, this is horrifying.

Security footage from a Turkish train station is circulating the internet right now, and it basically shows the escalators opening up and swallowing an unsuspecting commuter. 

It was recorded at the Maslak Ayazağa Metro Station in Istanbul in late February, but it only starting to make waves online now after being posted to viral video hub LiveLeak on Monday.

After doing a bit of digging, we realised the story was even more terrifying than it looks.

The victim, Mehmet Ali Erik, was trapped inside the escalator for more than an hour.

Fire fighters had to cut him out of the side of the stairs, crudely tearing at the metal to clear a space big enough to pull him through.

He suffered a broken arm and lacerations to his limbs.

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As we learned from a story from Turkish masthead Sozcu, the escalators had been closed to maintenance works, with the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality claiming the commuters ignored warning signs.

But witnesses told local media there were no danger notices at the time of the incident.

“I walked up the escalators as usual,” Ali Ozgur Inan said.

“It did not work, but there were no security signs.”

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The witness described hearing shouting moments before the victim fell.

“Dozens of people… scrambled down the stairs,” Inan said.

“We saw somebody falling into the plates on the broken part.”

Footage shared by Haber Turk shows a person removing a participation at the foot of the stairs after walking down the stationary escalators. 

It’s believed the weight of the people walking down the escalators caused the connections between the steps to separate, forming the gap the man fell into.