Wonder Festival 2008 Summer Escalator Accident ワンダーフェスティバル エスカレーター

03.08.2008 by Adrian A. Lozano

Today at Tokyo Big Sight, the bi-annual figure and hobby event known as "Summer Wonder Festival," opened its doors at 10:00a.m. to thousands of attendees. Once inside, attendees scattered in an uncontrolled frenzy to purchase event-exclusive merchandise. At about 10:06a.m, some of those attendees charged to West Hall's side-by-side four story escalators. One led to the popular non-retail sale and cosplay area and the other led back to the first floor. All of a sudden a thunderous crash followed by grinding metal came from the ascending escalator. The weight of all the people made the speed the escalator descend in reverse twice as fast giving people no time to react, and within seconds people ended up piled up on top of each other in front of the base of the escalator.

A Wonder Festival staffer used the emergency stop button to slowly bring the escalator to a complete stop. The escalator buckled under the weight of more than 100 people being on the escalator at the time same. Ten people suffered light injuries and were transported to the hospital. The four story escalator remained closed for the entire show, leaving only one elevator and multiple non-connecting stairways as the only access to the fourth floor. Incidents like this are usually followed by an investigation for any negligence, and will definitely bring both Tokyo Big Sight and Kaiyodo's crowd control and safety measures under scrutiny. This month's Comiket, which will also be held at Tokyo Big Sight will most certainly be affected by some new safety precautions.