1-year-old girl loses finger in escalator accident at supermarket in Hiratsuka

Wednesday 09th April, 03:23 PM JST

KANAGAWA —

A one-year-old girl lost the ring finger of her left hand on Tuesday after it got stuck in an escalator at a supermarket in Hiratsuka City, Kanagawa Prefecture, police said Wednesday. The escalator was the same one where a 9-year-old boy injured his head after he got stuck between the escalator and the wall last October.

Police said that Maika Matsunaga’s hand got wedged between the belt-conveyor of the escalator and the wall around 11:30 a.m. when she was trying to get on it alone. She was taken to hospital but doctors were unable to save her finger. According to police, Maika was with her mother, 28, and father, 39, but tried to get on the escalator alone after her parents lost sight of her.

Since the October accident, several security measures have been implemented and frequent warning announcements are made, the supermarket said.

Latest 15 of 23 Total Comments Show All

robin_hood at 08:21 PM JST - 9th April

This is terrible....

I wonder what these parents were doing...?

1 year olds aren't suppose to roam around freely...

It's so sad and these kinds of things are accidents waiting to happen, during my lunch hour a couple months back, I was shocked to see 2 young sisters, probably 2 & 3 years old, playing directly in front of the down escalator, where the stairs get meet the ground floor, and these girls were unattended, wearing children's sandals and grabbing onto the moving rubber hand rail...

Unbelievable... I couldn't believe it, I was in a hurry to get back, but I stopped and started to walk over there, luckily an old lady passing by noticed and said something to these kids...

The mother wasn't paying the least bit of attention...
Wottock_Hunt at 09:14 PM JST - 9th April

but the ring finger of her left hand?

Azrael - that's a very astute observation. There can be few things crueller than teenage girls. I know, as I used to be a teenage boy.

The parenting skills notwithstanding, this is clearly a dangerous piece of apparatus. There should be a lawsuit for mucho spondola to ease the poor infant's pain as he grows up.

"OK, you're right, I can't get married. Excuse me while I drive home in my Ferrari."
Sarge at 09:22 PM JST - 9th April

"Poor little Maika"

Poor little Maika is right, Cleo. Now this girl with the 3 fingers on her left hand will have to endure the endless teasing by her classmates throughout her elementary and possibly junior high school years...
romulus3 at 09:50 PM JST - 9th April

wottock,

I will excuse you in your Ferrari whilst I go home to a nice dinner, and push my 2 year old about the house, safely might I add, In his kimi replica. I would trade a million Ferrari for him. I suggest marriage and all the love, attention and care a child needs. Once you see your own, there is no going back.

Moderator: Stay on topic please.
romulus3 at 09:53 PM JST - 9th April

sarge and cleo,

By the time this girl is in high school she will have a brand new genetically grown finger sown to her hand. no problem. It may also be true that bullying J teens are extinct. This kid is just one. There are oceans of possibilities ahead of her.
Nessie at 11:02 PM JST - 9th April

Now this girl with the 3 fingers on her left hand

5 - 1 = 3?
notimpressed at 11:32 PM JST - 9th April

5-1 minus the thumb unless you count it as a finger.
VoXman at 01:03 AM JST - 10th April

how does 39 and 29 year old parents lose sight of a 1 year old child???

I see it everyday. Seems like some mothers in Japan feel nothing will happen to their children. kids running wild through the store. Wrestling and tackling each other. Supermarkets are play grounds for kids. It drives my wife nuts, she has a tendency to complain to some errant mothers who are neglecting their child's welfare.
rjd_jr at 08:41 AM JST - 10th April

Himajin, this was a tragic accident. It could have happened anywhere in the world, but for many here it is justification to badmouth all Japanese parents. Indeed unless we have our young children on literal leashes, anything can happen in the blink of an eye. Kids all over the world get abducted, killed, or maimed from losing sight of their parents for just a split second. No need to cast judgement on others.
flammenwerfer at 08:46 AM JST - 10th April

rjd_jr - exactly, nice to read a balanced sensible reply.
romulus3 at 09:27 AM JST - 10th April

RJD, Nice post buddy
lynny at 12:31 PM JST - 10th April

The parents were eating lunch at the time(japanese husband told me). So why wasn't this little girl sitting in a child seat at the table with them? I get so frustrated when I see things like this happen. Unfortunately unavoidable accidents involving kids are very common in Japan. But it's not only japanese parents. I have a chinese woman in my japanese class who lets her 1 year old boy run all over the place...elevators...escalators...up steep steps etc. The rest of us panic, and she just stands there yakking to friends! Grrrrrrrrrr.
Himajin at 07:49 PM JST - 10th April

RJD, I think that was what I was saying.I don't think I cast judgement on anyone, I was asking the other posters here, 'do you know how short a one-year-old is?' because until you've had one that small, you have no idea of what little Houdinis they are. In other words, they should not have been castigating the parents.
rjd_jr at 09:33 AM JST - 11th April

I was referring to you Himajin because I totally agreed with your post about 1 year olds.
Himajin at 10:18 AM JST - 11th April

Gotcha! Sorry, I was pretty tired last night, just got back from the US and still kind of groggy. I didn't mean to misinterpret your post.