Several people were injured Sunday night in an incident involving an escalator at the MBTA's Back Bay Station in Boston.
The MBTA confirmed they are investigating what happened. In a statement, the transit agency said the incident involved the escalator from the Amtrak/Commuter Rail platforms to the street-level lobby of the station.
Boston EMS said multiple units responded to the MBTA station shortly after 6 p.m., confirming nine people were injured in the incident and taken to local hospitals to be treated for various injuries.
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While Boston EMS said the injuries were reported to be minor in nature, witnesses who were at the station when the escalator malfunctioned described a very gruesome scene, with blood everywhere.
Eli Smith was waiting for his train to arrive when it all transpired.
"There was a whole bunch of commotion coming from this escalator, so out of pure curiosity I go over and look and there was like four people laying down and like a puddle of blood at the end of the escalator," Smith said.
He initially thought there was a shooting after seeing so many bloodied people.
"There was like a boy with his shirt covered in blood, an old woman that was like gushing, her face was covered in it. It was crazy," Smith recalled.
The aftermath of the incident was referred to as a "medical emergency" on the MBTA Commuter Rail Twitter account. Numerous trains were delayed by the incident as transit police, Boston Fire and EMS all responded to the scene.
Smith says he asked personnel what went wrong and was told the escalator flattened like a slide.
"It's normally steps going up and then it turned into a slide, and then went backwards, and then that's when people fell," Smith shared.
Aubrey Mixon was waiting for her train, as well, and wondered why it was delayed.
"A conductor came around and said that there was something happening at the station," Mixon said. " It's pretty crazy. I'm just glad it wasn't me."
It was not immediately clear why the escalator malfunctioned and officials have not said what happened. The MBTA did say the escalator will remain out of service while the incident is thoroughly investigated, and signs were posted late Sunday night saying "Do not enter."
