MA Family Sues After Child's Fatal Fall From Escalator

The AP reported a Massachusetts family filed a negligence lawsuit against Simon Property Group Inc., Sears, Schindler Elevator Corp., and Botany Bay Construction after their son "slipped through a gap" between an escalator and railing "that was wider than allowed by state law," said family attorney Tom Smith. Smith said elevator installation plans "called for a barrier to close the gap," but neither Simon Property nor Sears enforced the plans, Smith said. Mark's DiBona's death spurred statewide elevator inspections, after which the Department of Public Safety "fired two inspectors, suspended six and reprimanded 26 others after a sweep of all escalators in Massachusetts found 7.5 percent lacked barricades required to cover the gap between the moving staircases and walls or rails."