• Death of japanese child after arm trapped in outdoor escalator
• Failure of automated emergency system led to manual intervention by mother

A five-year-old Japanese boy died at a ski resort after his arm became trapped in an outdoor escalator, prompting authorities to launch an investigation into the malfunction of the safety systems.

The child, Hinata Goto, a kindergarten student from Sapporo, was visiting the Asari Ski Resort in Otaru, Hokkaido, with his family on Sunday morning.

Local police reported that the child was using the belt-type escalator to move from the parking lot to the ski slopes when the incident occurred around 10 a.m.

According to reports, the boy, fully dressed in ski gear and boots, fell as he neared the 60-centimeter-wide escalator exit.

His right arm was subsequently caught in the mechanism at the top of the belt.

Although the escalator was equipped with an emergency stop button designed to halt the motor upon detecting a foreign object, resort officials confirmed that the system did not activate automatically.

The child’s mother had to press the manual stop button before contacting emergency services.

Rescue teams and civil defense personnel took approximately 40 minutes to free the boy from the escalator mechanism.

He was transported to a local hospital unconscious but tragically passed away upon arrival.