Rescuers Amputate Woman’s Leg Stuck in Airport’s Travelator in Bangkok – News18

In a bizarre incident, rescuers amputated the leg of a woman who got stuck in a travelator in Bangkok’s Don Mueang airport earlier this week. The woman’s family told the BBC that they are shocked and worried about the woman’s mental health following the horrific accident.

The woman’s surgery was carried out on Thursday evening. The 57-year-old lady’s leg got stuck in the travelator after she tripped over her suitcase as she was on her way to board a flight, the BBC said, citing local media.

“My mother’s morale is quite concerning. We got to speak to her a bit before and after the operation… Even though she showed her strength through facial expression and tone of voice, we knew that deep down she was broken because she suddenly lost a leg,” Kit Kittirattana wrote in a Facebook post.

“Our family knows very well that we can neither make her leg work like before, nor can we bring back the same life she had lived,” Kittirattana further added.

The woman’s name remains unknown but images online showed her left leg wedged underneath the travelator. The yellow-coloured comb plates which are found at the end of travelators were broken off and the pink suitcase lying next to her lost two wheels.

Don Mueang airport management said they were “saddened” by the incident and would compensate her for the partial loss of her left leg and also bear her medical expenses.

Karant Thanakuljeerapat, Don Mueang airport director, said a probe has been launched to find out the cause of the incident. He said airport authorities will now speed up the process of replacing several old travelators which they were planning to do within 2025.

Local media outlets reported that the travelator that caused the accident was operating for at least 27 years i.e. since 1996.

The death of 31-year-old Xiang Liujuan in China’s Jingzhou in 2015 in similar circumstances also shocked the world. Xiang got stuck in the elevator of the upscale AZG Mall in central China and died after she pushed her young child to safety.