A 57-year-old passenger has had her leg amputated after it got caught in a moving walkway at a Bangkok airport.
On Thursday morning, a woman who was boarding a flight from Bangkok’s Don Mueang Airport to Nakhon Si Thammarat province had her leg amputated after it got caught in one of the travelators, per Thai newspaper Khaosod.
According to the publication, the female passenger was reportedly hit by a suitcase before her leg was dragged into the mechanics of a travelator at Domestic Terminal 2.
It is also reported that onlookers failed to press the emergency stop button immediately. As a result, the travelator’s machinery severely damaged the woman’s leg, per Daily Mail.
Airport officials say the woman’s leg was removed from above the knee before she was taken to Bhumibol Adulyadej Hospital for emergency treatment.
Since the incident, Karan Tanakuljirapat, the director of Don Mueang Airport, claimed the moving walkways are checked by airport staff every three hours and that engineers are now investigating the scene to determine the cause of the accident.
He also revealed that the travelator that crushed the woman’s leg was installed in 1996 and was set to be replaced in 2025. However, with the accident, the replacement could be moved up to 2024, per Khaosod.
Karan added that the airport will pay for the passenger’s medical costs and would be open for negotiations in compensation.
“On behalf of the Don Mueang international airport, I’d like to express my deepest condolences regarding the accident,” Karan told a news conference.
“I’d like to insist that we will ensure that no such accident will happen again.”
As for the passenger, Karan said that the woman was transferred to Bumrungrad Hospital after the medical team at Bhumibol Adulyadej Hospital told her that they couldn’t reattach her leg.
According to the Daily Mail, the passenger’s son, Kittirat, claimed officers were “holding a foam box containing her leg as they were getting out of the ambulance” after the incident happened.
“My mother’s morale is at a worrisome level,” he said.
“She showed strength in both her facial expressions and tone, but we knew deep down in her heart that she was broken because she suddenly lost her leg.
“My mother cried, not because of the pain, but because she couldn’t imagine life with one leg.
“The family is still praying for my mum’s surgery. We hope there are no signs of infection, and that it would be her last operation.”
An investigation has been launched to determine the cause of the accident, and Karan has ordered the temporary suspension of all 20 moving walkways, Khaosod reports.
