One man is dead after falling from an escalator at the RioCan Empress Walk Plaza in North York Thursday evening.
Toronto police said they were called to the mall around 5 p.m. following reports of an industrial accident. The man involved was pronounced dead at the scene.
Lucas Hay said he arrived at the mall around 6 p.m. and saw police tape surrounding the escalator that goes from the ground floor to the second floor.
He said an announcement was made on the intercom telling shoppers the mall was closed and asking everyone to leave. He said no reason was provided for the closure.
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“There was no panic at all. It was just because there were a lot of people around so they had to slowly usher everyone out,” Hay said.
RioCan, the company that manages the mall, told Global News in a statement Thursday evening that it is fully co-operating with an ongoing investigation.
Toronto police confirmed Friday morning the incident is not criminal in nature and that the investigation is being led by the Ministry of Labour.
However, the ministry said in a statement “the incident did not involve a worker or workplace activity and does not fall under the ministry’s jurisdiction.”
Sorry that this has happened to this man
Heartfelt condolences to the family and friends
Is there an elevator? If people have difficulty in walking they should take the elevator or the regular steps.
Culling the herd one liberal at a time
@Les and @PierrePoutine – please learn what empathy is and then get some.
Condolences to the family of the deceased.
Guessing the victim was an idiot doing idiot things. Darwin’s theory at work.
Well that escalated quickly. Seriously though, a person died and condolences are sent in earnest to the person’s family and friends. Let us hope that they find out what happened and take steps to correct it. Sorry, I know it is a serious situation, but sometimes these things write themselves.
Design problem of the plaza around the escalator. Lack of safety concerns.
Liberals…
A Liberal most likely.