Montreal woman strangled after scarf becomes stuck in Metro escalator

[ErikJ]

A 48-year-old woman was riding toward the platform at the Fabre metro station during the morning rush when her scarf and hair got snagged, authorities said. She lost consciousness, and was later pronounced dead on the scene.
BY PHILIP CAULFIELD /
A woman was killed during rush hour in Montreal Thursday when her scarf and hair got caught in a subway escalator, authorities said.
The 48-year-old woman was riding down the escalator at the Fabre metro station in the Villeray neighborhood shortly after 9:00 a.m. when her scarf got snagged, police said.
When she bent down to pull her it out, her hair got stuck, authorities said.
Bystanders rushed to try to free the stricken rider, but she eventually lost consciousness.
"By the time our people arrived, it had stopped and she was at the bottom of the escalator," Bob Lamle, a chief of Urgences-sante, Montreal's emergency response agency, told reporters Thursday.
"She was lying on her back," he said. "The woman was in cardiac arrest."
Paramedics worked to revive the woman, but could not.
She was pronounced dead at the scene.
Her body was taken to the city coroner's office, where an autopsy would determine the official cause of death, authorities said.
She has not been identified.
Lamle said he'd never seen such an accident in 30 years on the job.

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Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/montreal-woman-strangled-scarf-stuck-metro-escalator-article-1.1597993#ixzz2s03hJAlg
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A danger to beware of when riding escalators!

[SidDithers]

1. No red button, immediate stop switch on the escalator?...

Ruled an accidental death, and authorities are checking video from inside the station to see if they can get a clearer picture of what happened.

http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/a9tro+station/9449172/story.html

Note - video with sound that auto-starts at the link above.

Sid

[jberryhill]

2. If there's nobody there to push the button, it doesn't get pushed

[oldhippie]

4. It was during rush hour .....

... so it seems somebody might have been there.

[redqueen]

8. This was during rush hour.

People tried to help.

[Are_grits_groceries]

3. Shades of Isadora Duncan. nt

[RainDog]

7. that was my first thought, too n/t

[gollygee]

9. I thought of that too

This fall, someone gave my daughter a very, very long scarf, as is apparently a current style. It almost trailed on the ground, and might have depending on how she wore it. I immediately thought of Isadora Duncan and said she couldn't wear it. I can think of a thousand places for it to get caught.

[oldhippie]

5. So nobody of all the people during the rush hour had a pocketknife .....

... to cut loose her scarf or hair?

I've carried a pocket knife of some sort in my pants pocket pretty much every day for the past 57 years, since I was eight years old. Most people I know do also. I guess "city" people are much too civilized to carry a small, useful tool in their pocket, and there will always be "somebody else" to deal with emergencies. Except when there isn't.

[gollygee]

6. I don't know if I'd carry a pocketknife

People are stupid about knives. If you got stopped by a police officer, if they found even something as innocent as a pocketknife on you, you could have trouble. Depending on how threatening you subjectively looked to them.

[oldhippie]

10. Then I guess the world truly has gone crazy, when ....

... anyone would consider these threatening.







This is one like currently lives in my front pocket. I have used it so far today to open envelopes, open a package from Amazon, cut some rope to hang a temporary ham radio antenna, and stir some coffee. I don't think it scared anybody.




Really, when I was growing up in NY State, in high school and college, 40 years with the military, and now in retirement, I don't think I ever knew anyone that didn't have a knife of some type in a pocket. (sigh) I guess that's one reason I would never live in a city.

On edit: Well, I guess I have to modify to say I never knew anybody my age that didn't carry a pocketknife. My son reminds me that he works in a middle school (IT manager) and is not allowed to carry a pocketknife. (Though he can have one, and a utility knife, and a boxcutter and very pointy screwdrivers in his toolkit.) So sad.

[ErikJ]

11. I live in the city. This is all ya need.

box-cutter key ring.

Fast, very small and always very handy. I seem to use it all the time, but not self-defense.. yet.

[oldhippie]

12. Those look handy ......

... though a longer blade is better for stirring coffee.

I don't consider a pocketknife for self defense. I carry a Glock 19 or a S&W 340PD for that.

[ErikJ]

13. Better move to the city...............

where ya dont need stuff like that!