Five-year-old boy dies after being caught on ski slope

A five-year-old boy in Japan died after his arm got stuck on a moving walkway while on a skiing vacation with his family.

Japanese media quoted police sources as saying that Goto Hinata fell when he was about to go down the escalator at a ski resort in Hokkaido on Sunday morning, and his right arm was stuck in the escalator.

The moving walk was equipped with a safety device but failed to activate. The machine stopped when the boy’s mother pressed the emergency stop button.

Rescuers spent 40 minutes dismantling part of the escalator to free the unconscious boy. He was later pronounced dead at the hospital.

Staff at Otaru Asarigawa Onsen Ski Resort said the safety device for the moving walkway, which is designed to stop immediately if an object is detected trapped in the machine, came into effect earlier in the day.

Police are investigating the incident to assess whether there was any professional negligence, such as in the manufacture and maintenance of the moving walkway.

The moving walkway was installed about six years ago and is approximately 30m (98ft) long and 60cm (24in) wide with no handrails. It connects the resort’s parking lot to the ski slopes.

Japanese media quoted other tourists saying they had tripped while using the same moving walkway.

“Even as an adult, there are times when I think, ‘This is a bit scary,'” one regular customer told the Asahi Shimbun.

A representative of Asarigawa Onsen Ski Resort apologized for the incident and said it would take action to prevent a recurrence.

Hokkaido is known as the ski capital of Japan and welcomes millions of tourists every year, most of whom go on ski vacations in the winter.