A woman faced a distressing incident at Bangkok’s Don Mueang airport when she became trapped in a travelator, resulting in the amputation of her leg by rescue personnel.
According to reports from local media, the 57-year-old woman tripped over her suitcase while en route to boarding a flight on Thursday morning. Unfortunately, her leg became lodged in the travelator, leading to the need for immediate rescue and subsequent amputation of her leg.
The woman’s family expressed their shock and concerns about her mental well-being following the surgery, which took place on Thursday evening.
“My mother’s morale is quite concerning,” her son wrote on Facebook.
“We got to speak to her a bit before and after the operation… Even though she showed her strength through facial expression and tone of voice, we knew that deep down she was broken because she suddenly lost a leg,” Kit Kittirattana added.
“Our family knows very well that we can neither make her leg work like before, nor can we bring back the same life she had lived,” he wrote.
Photographs circulating online depicted the unidentified woman, seated with her left leg trapped under the travelator at Bangkok’s Don Mueang airport. In the images, her pink suitcase was visibly damaged, having lost two wheels, and the yellow comb plates typically found at the end of travelators were broken off.
Airport authorities expressed deep sorrow over the incident and pledged to provide compensation for the woman’s partial leg amputation, as well as cover her medical expenses.
The airport director, Karant Thanakuljeerapat, addressed the media on Thursday, stating that an investigation was underway to determine the cause of the incident. He further mentioned that the airport had initially planned to replace several outdated travelators by 2025 but may expedite the process given the circumstances.
Local media reports indicated that the travelator involved in the incident had been in operation since 1996.