BOSTON, May 5 (UPI) -- Two Massachusetts inspectors who approved an escalator on which a 4-year-old boy was killed face dismissal, Public Safety Commissioner Thomas Gatzonis said.
Gatzonis said Wednesday another 32 inspectors will receive suspensions or letters of reprimand for passing escalators with safety hazards similar to the one blamed for the death of Mark DiBona at the Auburn Mall, The Boston Globe reported. The boy fell in March when he was pulled by the moving handrail through a gap in a railing that was more than 6 inches wide.
In Massachusetts, such gaps are supposed to be no more than 5 inches wide. Similar dangerous gaps were found in 69 of the state's 927 escalators after the boy's death and have been shut down until the problem is fixed.
More than half of the state's escalators will be closed down.
The escalator at in Sears store at the Auburn Mall had been inspected twice since 2009, but neither inspector cited it for the overly large gap.
