A family from Louisiana injured when an escalator at a Boston train station malfunctioned has sued the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority and a contractor.
Karson and Holly Bethay and their two children, of Metairie, Louisiana, suffered “multiple fractures of the upper and lower extremities; extensive facial, scalp, head and body lacerations and other injuries,” when the escalator from the platform up to the street-level lobby at the Back Bay Station malfunctioned at about 6 p.m. last Sunday, according to court documents.
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Nine people total were taken to the hospital.
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The family’s injuries required inpatient treatment at Massachusetts General Hospital and they face extensive rehabilitation, according to the suit, which alleges negligence by the MBTA and the contractor responsible for maintaining the escalator.
MBTA spokesperon Joe Pesaturo said the cause of the malfunction remains under investigation and declined further comment.
According to the suit, the family — in town for the New England Patriots game against the New Orleans Saints — was on the escalator when it malfunctioned, “causing all the steps or treads of the escalator to rapidly reverse direction” and causing the Bethays and others to slide to the bottom.
The suit seeks unspecified damages.
