Inspectors Look Into Cause Of Escalator Accident

DENVER -- Inspectors from Denver's building department and engineers from the company that installed escalators at Coors Field are out at the stadium Thursday, looking into what caused a crowded escalator at the C gate to suddenly accelerate, injuring dozens of people who tumbled into each other and were thrown down the escalator.

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Escalator Victims: We Felt We Were Going To Die Family Describes Their Fall Down Escalator Hear From Eyewitnesses At Coors Field

Until that mystery is solved, all seven escalators were shut down for Thursday night's game and fireworks show, which continued as scheduled.

Thirty-two people were injured Wednesday night, many of them suffering from broken bones, bruises and cuts, said Denver Assistant Fire Chief Larry Trujillo. Nine people were still hospitalized Thursday, but none with critical or life-threatening injuries, Trujillo said.

"It's like it had no brakes and everybody was just piling up at the end of it," said Cherri Brownfield, who was on the escalator when she said it suddenly sped up. "People were just falling on each other."

One eyewitness said that people were sliding down "like an avalanche."

Alex Frenier, a vendor at Coors Field, said the scene was chaotic, with people screaming and falling down.

"I saw people's heads all hitting each other," he said. "I heard people's bodies banging against that thing."

Not First Escalator Accident At Coors Field

The long escalator at Section 122 is on the side of first base and connects the upper concourse, or third level, to ground level. The three-story high escalator was packed at 10:15 p.m. because fans had just finished watching a fireworks show that capped the Colorado Rockies 6-2 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks.

The city's building inspectors will be looking at all seven Coors Field escalators for mechanical problems and they expect to issue a report next week, 7NEWS reported.

The escalators, which are built and maintained by Kone Corp., are dewinterized and receive a preventive maintenance check before the start of every season. Coors Field officials said that although no maintenance-related problems have been reported on this particular escalator another escalator had a similar malfunction earlier in the season.

On May 24, after the game, the escalator suddenly stopped and about a half dozen people were hurt. The victims suffered cuts, bruises and sore backs but no one needed to be transported to local hospitals, said Kevin Kahn, vice president of Rockies' baseball operations.

Authorities still haven't determined what caused that escalator to suddenly stop, Kahn said.

Another escalator may have malfunctioned earlier this week, 7NEWS reported.

For Thursday's game, Rockies staff were be positioned at the top and bottom of each escalator to direct fans to stairwells, ramps and elevators. The closure of the escalators does not affect any evacuation routes or the safety of any fans, Trujillo said.

Trujillo said fire department engineers who looked at the escalator after the accident found nothing to explain what happened.

"We were able to eventually get clearance to go ahead and open up the covers for the escalators and we weren't able to find anything at that time. We did expect to see something but everything looks fully intact. The gears are there and everything looks 100 percent where it belongs. That's why it's puzzling for us. And I think the Rockies have stepped up to another level by saying 'Let's just close everything down until we find an answer,'" Trujillo said.

Some victims told 7NEWS that they think the sheer number of who piled on to the escalator may have caused the escalator to slip.

A Rockies employee whose job it is to monitor that specific escalator, to make sure that not too many people are crammed on the moving steps, was apparently dealing with a fight right before the accident, 7NEWS reported.

"He was in the area but his attention was distracted by the incident that was occurring. There was some issue with fans. I don't know the specifics of it," said Kahn.