A 5-year-old boy has tragically died in a freak skiing accident. The incident happened in Japan on December 28.
The 5-year-old got caught in an outdoor escalator and died. He had been on vacation at the Asari Ski Resort in Otaru, Hokkaid. The resort confirmed the death in a statement.
"A serious accident occurred on the escalator connecting the parking lot and center house at around 10:12 a.m. on Dec. 28, in which a customer was caught in the escalator and died," the resort said.
The five-year-old was confirmed as Hinata Goto, according to the Japanese newspaper The Asahi Shimbun. The 5-year-old had been on a belt-conveyor escalator with his mother. Upon trying to get off, he fell onto an outdoor escalator. His arm got caught in the winding mechanism, causing fatal injuries to the young boy.
5-Year-Old Dies In Accident
Following the incident, Hinata's mom called 911 "about her son being caught in the escalator." It took nearly an hour to free the 5-year-old from the machine. But sadly, he later passed away from his injuries. General manager of the slope, Kensuke Tamagawa, told staff to stay away from the machine for their own safety.
So no staff members were in the area. Additionally, the resort did not have a maintenance cover installed to prevent objects from getting caught in the machine. Hinata's mother had to push the emergency stop button to stop the machine.
The Asari Ski Resort wrote in a statement, "We would like to express our deepest condolences to the family of the deceased customer and offer our heartfelt condolences to the family. We would also like to offer our deepest apologies for the occurrence of such a serious accident at a facility operated by our company."
It said that it is cooperating with police.
"[We] are inspecting the relevant facilities and carrying out confirmation work to prevent a recurrence. Going forward, we will make responding to the bereaved families our top priority and work with all our heart and soul," the resort added.
