Escalator Inspectors on Leave after Massachusetts Boy Dies at Mall

Two state safety inspectors have been suspended after a 4-year-old boy fell to his death from a store escalator at a mall in Central Massachusetts.

Massachusetts Public Safety Commissioner Thomas Gatzunis said that a barricade should have been in place to cover a gap between the escalator and a wall at the Auburn Mall.

He says the inspectors examined the escalator in December and failed to enforce a code requiring the barricade for openings larger than 5 inches. The escalator had a gap of 61/4 inches.

He says there’s no reason to believe a “systemic problem” exists but ordered a check of those inspectors’ work. Their names weren’t released.

Mark DiBona of Dudley fell Friday night from an escalator on the second floor of Sears and landed on a display case.