UPDATE 11:05 a.m.: Metro General Manager Richard Sarles tells The Washington Examiner that the two employees involved in the escalator work are “no longer with Metro.”
A 52-year-old Metro rider fell into an escalator hatch that had wrongly been left open at the Pentagon rail station last week, injuring her knee and cutting her chin, Metro officials said on Thursday.
The hatch had apparently been left open on April 20 from 2 a.m. until the rider fell in at 6:30 a.m. — meaning the hazard was likely there for an hour and a half after the station had opened to riders.
The rider was hospitalized for two days at George Washington Hospital, according to Metro.
It was not exactly clear why the hatch had been left open. The station’s video cameras did not cover that area.
But Metro Chief Safety Officer James Dougherty said the hatch should not been left open at all. Furthermore, when open, the hatches are supposed to have barricades surrounding them.
Workers had been working on an escalator there that night, replacing the step rollers. But they logged off the job at 2 a.m., he said. It was not immediately clear if any workers had been disciplined in the incident, the latest problem with safety on the agency’s more than 400 escalators.
