BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 9 (UPI) -- One of 11 people injured in an escalator collapse in the Azerbaijan capital, Baku, has died, the Interfax news agency reported.
In Wednesday's accident at the central Baksovet subway station, passengers started walking down an inactive escalator that had been closed for repairs. The escalator suddenly started moving and passengers fell through the steps and were caught in the machinery.
The dead passenger "suffered the worst injuries. He lost both arms in the accident. The lives of the four other persons in our hospital are not in danger," doctors at a first aid clinic told Interfax.
The chief prosecutor of Azerbaijan and the Baku subway chief both blamed the passengers for the incident, Kommersant newspaper reported Thursday. The prosecutor's office has opened a criminal case of violating safety rules and has launched an investigation.
The accident is similar to a 1982 escalator collapse at the Aviamotornaya subway station in eastern Moscow, in which eight passengers died and 30 were injured.
