Escalator steps buckle at WTC transportation hub, 2 hurt

NEW YORK – An escalator malfunctioned at New York’s World Trade Center Transportation Hub and officials say two men sustained minor injuries.

Port Authority spokesman Steve Coleman says several stair treads on the escalator buckled at about 7 a.m. Thursday at the transportation centre, known as the Oculus (AHK’-yoo-luhs).

He says the men were able to walk to a waiting ambulance. They were taken to a hospital for evaluation.

Coleman says it is the same escalator that was involved in a fatal fall in February. He stressed that the earlier incident did not involve an escalator malfunction.

In the February accident, a New Jersey woman plunged about 30 feet to her death. Officials said she stretched over the railing too far and fell while trying to retrieve a dropped hat.