A five-year-old boy died in a tragic accident at a ski resort in Japan’s northern province of Hokkaido. The accident occurred on Sunday morning at the Asarigawa Onsen Ski Resort in Otaru City when the boy’s right hand got stuck in a travelator (moving walkway). This travelator connects the parking area to the ski slope. The child’s mother immediately informed the emergency services after the accident. According to the local police and fire department, the boy was pulled out but was unconscious when taken to the hospital. Doctors later confirmed his death.
The deceased child was a resident of Sapporo City. Resort officials stated that the Travelator’s emergency auto-stop system did not activate automatically when it was supposed to stop immediately if a foreign object became trapped. Ultimately, the child’s mother had to press the emergency stop button herself. Resort authorities claim that the safety system was functioning properly during a routine inspection earlier that day.
However, following the accident, police and related agencies are now investigating how the technical fault occurred and whether safety standards were adequate. Meanwhile, in Japan, on December 25th, several people were injured when a fire broke out in a 10-story apartment building in Niigata City, central Japan. The fire broke out around 6 p.m. in the city’s busy Chuo Ward area. Firefighters had a tough time extinguishing the flames.