Woman trapped, injured in second incident on MBTA Davis escalator this year

A woman was injured Friday after her clothing got trapped in the mechanism of an MBTA escalator at Davis Station, where a similar and deadly accident happened earlier this year.

Just after 7 a.m., the woman fell after boarding the escalator, and part of her clothing got caught in the mechanism as she reached the bottom, an MBTA spokesperson said in a statement. A fellow rider who was ahead of her hit the emergency stop button and helped her get free of the escalator.

MBTA personnel and the Somerville Fire Department responded to the scene. The woman was taken to the hospital for a hand injury sustained in her fall, according to the MBTA.

The MBTA did not release the identity of the injured woman, but they commended the Good Samaritan who stepped in and rescued her.

“We thank the fellow rider who helped during the incident by hitting the stop button,” an MBTA spokesperson said in a statement. “In the event of an emergency, any member of the public can stop an escalator by pressing the red button labeled ‘STOP’ at the top and bottom of each escalator.”

The transit authority also provided several safety reminders, urging riders to avoid standing near the escalator entrances, to use the handrails when riding, and to stand to the right to allow others to pass on the left. They also advised caution when riding with small children or luggage and warned about being aware of loose clothing, according to the statement.

Friday’s accident shares similarities with another incident at the same station that resulted in the death of Steven McCluskey. In the early hours of Feb. 27, the father of two fell at the bottom of a Davis escalator, and his clothing became trapped in the machinery.

It took more than 20 minutes for someone, a Red Line employee, to help McCluskey and bring the escalator to a stop. In that time, several early-morning T riders passed by, seemingly doing nothing to help.

MBTA Transit Police said that McCluskey’s clothing was “tightly lodged” in the escalator, and his shirt constricted his neck and compromised his airway. He was taken to Massachusetts General Hospital and reportedly regained a pulse after multiple rounds of CPR, but he ultimately died March 9.

In its statement, the MBTA did not acknowledge the striking similarities between the two incidents. Shannon Flaherty, McCluskey’s sister, told NBC10 Boston in May that while the incident gave her “a lack of faith in humanity,” it was also a significant failure on the transit authority’s part.

“Where was security?” Flaherty asked. “Where were the red coats that are supposed to be on all the floors from the time it opens to the time it closes? How, at a busy train station, does nobody stop, nobody see him?”