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By Craig T. Kojima, Star-Bulletin
A 6-year-old boy who got his arm caught in an escalator
at the Ala Moana J.C. Penney was trapped for 45 minutes.
It took 35 minutes to free him. Here, a rescue worker
wheels the boy out to a waiting aid unit.

Boy trapped
45 minutes with arm
caught in escalator

Star-Bulletin staff

Firefighters rescued a 6-year-old boy whose arm was caught in an escalator handrail at the J.C. Penney Co. store at Ala Moana Center yesterday afternoon.

The boy was taken to Queen's Hospital and probably suffered a fractured, bruised left arm, said Capt. John Amadeo of the Honolulu Fire Department's Pawaa Station. He was reported in fair condition.

The child, who was riding up to the second floor, was found stomach-down at the top of the escalator with his left forearm stuck up to his elbow in the handrail belt.

Judging from the position of his body and location of his arm, "he probably lost his balance and the natural tendency is to grasp the rail, and he went down and under," Amadeo said. "I'm just glad he didn't lose his arm."

Someone stopped the escalator. The fire rescue crew, with technical assistance from Otis Elevator Co., took 35 minutes to free the boy.

The boy, trapped for 45 minutes, had been shopping with his grandmother.

He was "pretty good about it," whimpering a little, but his grandmother was pretty upset, Amadeo said.