Death on the Escalator

A Montreal woman was killed this morning when her hijab became entangled in the mechanism of an escalator at a subway station.

Many thanks to Susan Victoria for translating this news report, and to Vlad Tepes for subtitling it:

There’s no word yet on whether the manufacturer of the escalator will be held liable for its failure to make its equipment accessible and safe for people of all races and religious faiths.

Below is a brief BBC article about the incident:

Woman Dies as Escalator Catches Her Scarf on Montreal Metro

A commuter has died after her scarf got snagged in an escalator at a Montreal Metro station and strangled her.

The unidentified 48-year-old woman was found dead at the bottom of the moving staircase at Fabre station in the north of the Canadian city.

Her hair was also apparently caught in the escalator in Thursday morning’s incident.

Montreal police said they would work with the coroner’s office to determine the circumstances of the fatality.

Police spokesman Jean-Pierre Brabant told reporters: “What we know now is that the woman’s scarf was caught in the escalator.

“When she bent over to try to get the scarf out, her hair was also caught.”

Video transcript:

0:19   An incident that occurred this morning at
0:23   the Fabre metro station, a little after 9:00 a.m.,
0:27   a tragic event, it seems a woman was choked, strangled
0:31   by a scarf… Elizabeth is on the scene. Hi Elizabeth,
0:35   what do we know at this time?
0:39   Listen, Mario, as you said, this is a sad and stupid accident that
0:43   led to the death of a woman in her thirties. I’ll tell you how it happened.
0:48   What we know to date, around 9:15 the woman entered
0:52   the Fabre metro station to take the subway and she took
0:56   the escalator. At a certain point, at the bottom, her scarf got
1:00   caught in the step and as she bent down to pull it out,
1:04   that’s when her hair got tangled up in the moving step
1:08   and finally, the woman couldn’t release herself and
1:12   she died strangled on the spot, since she was trapped.
1:16   What we also know is she didn’t have time to push the
1:18   emergency button at the bottom of the escalator. It seems
1:22   there was a witness, and he is the one who used the red phone to
1:26   alert the emergency service of the accident.
1:30   The STM called the police, and as you can see, the officers are here,
1:34   and they shut down the Fabre metro station. According to our info,
1:38   Mario, the deceased woman in her thirties wore the hijab;
1:42   she was veiled and it’s her hijab, her scarf that got caught in the escalator.
1:46   Now, the scene is cordoned off at the bottom where
1:50   the incident occurred. Police, firemen and STM officials
1:54   are here to confirm what really happened and
1:58   it looks like it’s really a stupid accident. No crime is involved, and
2:02   nobody pushed this woman. I want to mention there was
2:06   one witness who took the red phone to contact the STM
2:10   but this man has left the scene. So now, the police
2:14   will view the surveillance cameras to determine
2:18   what exactly took place. So that’s it. Now, the
2:22   Fabre metro station is shut down since 9:15 a.m., since all of this took place, Mario.
2:26   Elizabeth, has the entire metro station been closed down or
2:30   only the entrance leading to the escalator?
2:36   Only the entrance on Jean Talon Street where the incident happened.
2:40   There are other entrances to the Fabre metro station, so
2:44   the entire line is not closed down,
2:46   only the entrance where this sad event
2:50   took place earlier today.
 

Hat tip for the BBC article: Fjordman.

12 thoughts on “Death on the Escalator

  1. Alors! To avoid these fortunate crashes in future should the blurred vision male/female be required to pass a mental stability test and display front and rear licence plates indicating such? Maybe he or she was out on a daily recon and just got csughtnip.

  2. Much as I dislike hijabs, this could have happened to anyone with a scarf, such as the reporter herself!

  3. If she was so religious she had to wear that get-up…where was her MALE RELATIVE escort??

  4. Reminds me of an amusing story (not sure if it’s true)…….
    When the 1st escalator was installed in New York a man with one leg was hired to ride the escalator to demonstrate how easy it was. A woman was overheard to say to her young son
    “There, that’s what happens to people who ride those things”

  5. Pingback: DYSPEPSIA GENERATION » Blog Archive » Woman Dies After Scarf, Hair Get Caught In Montreal Subway Escalator

  6. It appears that 21st century technology has caught up (pardon the pun) with 7th century fashion.

  7. Interesting to note how over on this side of the pond the media (I’m beginning to hate that word) persist in referring to the Gender Slave’s hijab as a ‘scarf’.

    Next thing we know they’ll be referring to goats as ‘companions’, FGM as feminine hygiene and bombs as expressions of inclusiveness.

    And, of course, our beloved Prime Minister will no doubt advise us yet again that “…it’s nothing to do with AsiansIslam.”!

  8. Note how the journalist insists on letting us know that nobody pushed the victim.

    Just in case. We don’t want any riots, now, do we ?

    Everybody knows evil Christian Quebeckers lurk in the Montreal underground, trying to push Muslimas down escalators and get them strangled in their hijabs.

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