Victim of an escalator accident, Ms Chan (left), stands outside the Legal Aid Department in Admiralty, accompanied by a member of the Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions, who holds a paper comparing the speeds of escalators at a number of public places. Edmond Tang / China Daily

A female teacher injured while riding an escalator inside a metro station in January is seeking legal aid to bring suit against the Mass Transit Railway Corporation (MTRC).

Apart from medical cost, she will claim loss of income, since she has lost her job. She will also seek damages for mental stress.

A spokesman for the MTRC responded that the safety standard of the company's escalators is approved by the Electrical and Mechanical Services Department.

As to her legal aid application, the company said its legal department will follow up if and when necessary.

Identifying herself as Ms Chan, the injured woman, assisted by Bill Tang, an Islands District Councilor member from the Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions, applied for legal aid to sue the rail company on Wednesday.

She recalled that while travelling on the escalator at Kowloon Tong Station near midnight, the machinery suddenly stopped, causing her to fall and injure her legs.

She was sent to the emergency ward of Queen Elizabeth Hospital.

Since then she has been receiving treatment from Chinese bone specialists at her own expense.

"I was holding the hand rails firmly at the time of the accident just like the company tells the passengers but still I lost my balance," she said.

She wrote to the MTRC claiming losses on several occasions, but the company was firm in its reply that it bore no responsibility because the escalator was stopped by an unknown passenger.

"The company was irresponsible," she complained. "How can it say it is not responsible, knowing the accident happened in the station and I had followed the instruction?"

Owing to her sore legs, she is unable to stand for long periods and has lost her job as a teacher.

Tang voiced the suspicion that the escalator was moving very fast.

Through surveys at different stations, public places and shopping malls, the speed of the escalator in question is 17 frames every 10 seconds, while those of other escalators are between 12-16 frames every 10 seconds, according to Tang.

There are more than 700 escalator accidents every year, showing that the MTRC is not doing its job well, Tang said.

Since the company refused to indemnify the victim, she will sue through legal aid, he said.

He also said the rail operator should find out why the passenger stopped the escalator and explain why the emergency button was so easily accessible to the passengers.

joseph@chinadailyhk.com

China Daily

(HK Edition 07/28/2011 page1)