A family ski outing in northern Japan ended in tragedy after a 5-year-old boy became trapped in a moving walkway at a Hokkaido resort and died, prompting a safety investigation and criticism of the equipment's design. Local media identified the child as Hinata Goto of Sapporo. He was using a 100-foot conveyor-style "snow escalator" that links a parking lot to a slope at the Asari ski resort in Otaru on Sunday when he reportedly fell while trying to step off, per the Guardian. Local media reports his right arm was pulled into the machine's winding mechanism. Firefighters freed Hinata about 40 minutes after an emergency call from his mother, but he was pronounced dead at a hospital, per the Japan Times.
The incident has put a spotlight on the travelator itself. The Asahi Shimbun reports that the conveyor, installed six years ago, is only about 24 inches wide and lacks handrails. Resort officials tell Kyodo News that the device's safety system didn't stop the machine after the boy's mother hit the emergency button, even though it had functioned during a routine inspection earlier that day. No employees were stationed nearby when the accident occurred, according to media reports.
A resort representative issued an apology, and police have opened an inquiry that could lead to professional negligence charges. Regular users described long-standing concerns: One man in his 70s called the conveyor "scary," saying its changing slope angle causes it to shake and that he'd stumbled on it himself. Another local worker noted that many children use the slope to learn to ski and called for a thorough investigation and measures to prevent a repeat of the incident.
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