WASHINGTON -- A Canadian teenager's hand got stuck in a Metrorail escalator on Tuesday evening when the 14-year-old tried to dislodge his flip-flop that had also gotten trapped in the moving stairway at the Smithsonian station.
WTTG-TV/Fox5 reported it took about 40 minutes for emergency personnel to free the teenager, who had four fingers stuck in the escalator's comb, a piece at the bottom of escalators where moving steps disappear and return to the top. WTTG-TV reported that the teen, visiting the nation's capital, remained "stoic" during the incident.
Metro described the teenager's injuries as not life threatening and the transit agency shut down the escalator to start an investigation.
Following Tuesday night's incident at the Smithsonian station, Metro reiterated its warning about the potential dangers of wearing flip flops on Metro escalators, especially on hot days when rubber and other soft materials are more likely to sink into escalator steps.
As The Washington Post reported last year, flip-flop escalator incidents are an unfortunate summer tradition for Metro:
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