Woman Who Lost Leg In Escalator Mishap Sues Rockies

DENVER -- A woman who lost her left leg when an escalator at Coors Field malfunctioned is suing the Colorado Rockies, the baseball stadium district and Kone Inc., which manufactured and maintained the escalator.

Peggy Nance filed the lawsuit Wednesday in Denver District Court. It said that as she rode the escalator on July 2, 2003, it jerked to a stop, then restarted and increased in speed.

She said she fell almost immediately on the escalator, which descends about 30 feet. Because of her injuries, she had to endure 11 surgeries, nearly 10 weeks in the hospital and the amputation of her left leg four inches below the knee.

She also suffered injuries to her right heel, back, lungs and left shoulder. The lawsuit said she's incurred $723,000 in expenses because of the accident.

She was among the 30 people who were injured.

There's still some debate about exactly what caused the three-story escalator near Gate C to malfunction after a sold-out Colorado Rockies game and fireworks show. City inspectors said a major safety switch was missing, causing the escalator to suddenly speed up and hurtle dozens of people to the bottom of the escalator.

Kone Inc. blamed overcrowding and a misconnected wire for the accident.

According to the city's investigation, a device called the Nordic Soft Start, which is designed to slowly bring an escalator up to speed, malfunctioned, disrupting the braking ability of the motors and allowing them to free wheel. Inspectors said the safety switch could have caught the malfunction and shut the escalator down.

The Rockies and Kone had agreed to split the cost of medical bills, lost wages, child-care fees and other costs without admitting any responsibility.