18 hurt as Hong Kong shopping complex's 45-meter escalator malfunctions

Eighteen people were injured after a escalator at the Langham Place commercial complex in Hong Kong malfunctioned on Saturday.

Videos shared on YouTube showed people losing their balance and rolling down after the shopping complex's 45-meter long escalator suddenly changed direction.

Langham Place is a famous shopping mall at the Mong Kok area of Kowloon. It opened in January 2005.

A Straits Times report quoting the South China Morning Post said four men and 14 women were injured during the escalator accident. It added that one of the four men sustained a head injury.

The report said that according to a spokesperson of Langham Palace's, the escalator had passed a biannual safety inspection conducted last March 23. The spokesperson had assured assistance to the victims, it added. —ALG, GMA News