9 Hurt At Back Bay MBTA Station After Escalator Malfunction

BOSTON (CBS) -- An escalator at the Back Bay MBTA station remained closed Monday, a day after nine people were hurt when it malfunctioned.

Witnesses told WBZ-TV the escalator reversed direction around 6 p.m. Sunday, causing people to fall. They also saw several people injured on the ground below.

"The escalator was moving upwards and then just went backwards, and everyone just started falling like dominos," witness Krystal Tremblay said.

Sarah Aucoin and Claire Maia were both on the escalator when it abruptly started going backwards.

"When I felt it stop, we ran to the top. I looked behind me, I saw the pile of people and I saw blood everywhere," Aucoin said.

Maia said she was near the top of the stairs and able to quickly step off before springing into action.

"I ran and hit the emergency stop button on the escalator and held it down until I was sure it was stopped," Maia said.

Boston EMS confirmed nine people were taken to the hospital with minor injuries, but witnesses told WBZ-TV they saw people badly hurt.

"This little girl at the bottom, she had most of the side of her face gone, and her ear was almost off her head. And her mother had part of her scalp missing," Maia said.

Tremblay also saw some gruesome injuries.

"People were falling over each other. There was kids in there. Three people were hurt pretty bad on the ground. They were bleeding," she said.

There is no word yet on what caused the escalator to malfunction, but the MBTA said it will remain out of service as they try to figure out what went wrong.

This is not the first time there have been issues with the escalator at the Back Bay station.

More than 20 people were hurt in a similar malfunction in 1996.

Another incident in 2011 left five people injured when a crowd was heading to the Bruins' parade.