Escalator goes wild, 20-person ‘pile up’ at Secaucus Junction, witnesses say

SECAUCUS —Several were injured after Monday night's Jets game when the escalator at Secaucus Junction suddenly sped up, riders told the North Jersey Record.

NJ Transit said in a statement that three people were injured when the escalator riding down to the platform for Tracks A and B unexpectedly sped up and then stopped around 10:45 p.m. because of a "malfunction."

One person who said he was involved in the incident wrote on Twitter that 20 riders were in a "pile up" because of the malfunction.

David M. Robbins tweeted that his daughter was on the escalator and expected to miss two or three days of work after winding up in an emergency room to get stitches.

Lyndsey Read told the North Jersey Record that when the escalator sped up people fell backward and were falling on top of each other. She told the Record "it felt like we were going to be crushed" and she was one of several people who got cuts and bruises from the incident.

NJ Transit said the escalator was immediately placed out of service and was still off limits to riders as of Thursday afternoon.

"Repairs are currently underway after which the unit will undergo the required inspections before being returned to service," according to the statement.

Contact reporter Dan Alexander at Dan.Alexander@townsquaremedia.com or via Twitter @DanAlexanderNJ

More from New Jersey 101.5