A five-year-old boy's slipper got stuck in the edge of an escalator in Jewel Changi Airport at around 10pm on May 12, 2019.

What happened

According to Lianhe Wanbao, the incident occurred on a down-riding escalator headed for basement level one from the first floor of the gigantic mall.

The boy was casually dressed in a yellow top and shorts, and had his slippers on.

He was taking the escalator with his family.

The report said it was his right slipper that got caught in the escalator.

But it is unclear how the incident occurred.

The boy was accompanied by a man in red and a woman, who were likely his family members.

Crowded Jewel

The reader who alerted the media and wished to be known as Lee, shared with Lianhe Wanbao that the brave boy did not cry even though those around him were worried for his safety.

He observed more than 50 onlookers at the site.

Lee said that he was standing at a distance, so he could not see how the boy was rescued eventually:

"I was standing quite far away so I did not see how they extricate the boy's foot out, but I saw the cover at the side of the escalator was opened. I believe the technician opened it to set the boy's foot free."

He further elaborated that the man in red carried the boy to a nearby bench immediately to check on his injuries afterwards.

Despite opening for close to a month, Jewel still sees a steady stream of visitors and Jewel staff are stationed around to manage the human flow.

Technology and closed-circuit television analytics are also employed to help with real-time human traffic control.

Responses from Jewel and SCDF

The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) confirmed that they attended to the case at around 9.50pm.

When SCDF arrived, the boy was already receiving medical treatment and did not require further assistance.

Fortunately, the boy only suffered a minor cut to his toe on his right foot.

The Jewel spokesperson said the boy was attended to by a doctor who was at the scene.

The spokesperson also advised shoppers to be vigilant at all times when taking the escalator, especially if one is accompanied by children.

Mindful of your footwear on escalators

Accidents on escalators are not uncommon.

In particular, soft and rubbery footwear do end up getting stuck on the escalator and cannot be extricated easily.

Crocs rubber clogs, for example, are known to be involved in some escalator accidents as they get caught and risk getting ripped off the wearer's foot along the side of the escalator.

However, the company has denied that its footwear are dangerous.

Instead, Crocs attributed such accidents to other factors such as the maintenance and safety of the escalator, as well as parents' supervision.

Top photo collage from photos by Kevin Walter and Mandy How