SHENZHEN’S market supervision authority halted the use of 26 sets of Shenlong brand escalators Monday for design flaws after a citywide inspection.

    The move was made after 31-year-old Xiang Liujuan in Hubei Province was killed July 27 after falling into the gap of an escalator of the same brand, whose metal panel collapsed under her feet when she reached the top to step off.

    At the inspection Monday, the market supervision’s law enforcement employees closed four sets of those escalators at Renrenle Shopping Square in Xixiang, Bao’an District.

    The escalators were put into operation in 2008 and were regularly maintained every two weeks, working normally without any incidents. But in the assessment after the Hubei incident, the inspectors found that the gap between the metal panels is wider than regular standards and reported it to the city’s market supervision authority.

    According to a report by the market supervision authority, the gap between the second metal panel and the first gear support panel was 20 millimeters, wider than normal.

    “The loose second metal panel was blamed for the Hubei incident. When Xiang stepped on it, it collapsed and Xiang fell into the escalator shaft through the hole in just a few seconds,” Qin Shijie, an official who headed the inspection team, said.

    Qin also said the Shenlong brand has design faults. The T-shape design of the panels could easily become loose and result in injuries and fatalities if they collapsed.

    According to an engineer with Shenzhen Institute of Special Equipment Inspection and Test, the second panel is connected to two others via a 22-millimeter overlapping margin, and the three panels are not fixed with screws.

    “The overlapping margin could wear down if the panels are used for a long time and this design fault could cause the panels to dislocate. The overlapping margin between the first and second panel on one escalator of the Renrenle supermarket only has 2 millimeters remaining. If we continue the use of the escalator without thorough examinations, we will face the same disaster and consequences as the Hubei accident,” Zhang said.

    After the Hubei incident, the city’s market supervision has required users to check all 9,670 escalators within two weeks. The citywide check focuses on the 146 Shenlong escalators, which are made by a Suzhou company.

    (Han Ximin)