Man, 72, is killed by escalator after getting his suit jacket caught in handrail

A man has died after getting his suit jacket caught in the handrail of an escalator in Japan.

Mamoru Suzuki, 72, collapsed at JR Mito Station, in the city of Mito in eastern Japan, after the back of his suit jacket got caught in an escalator which connects the station platform with the ticket gate area.

The man from Hitachi, a town in the Ibaraki Prefecture, was alert when he was found around 9pm on Tuesday near the escalator's exit but later lost consciousness and was taken to a local hospital, local media reports.

Mr Suzuki was confirmed dead, but the cause of death has not yet been determined. 

Police are currently reviewing the station's CCTV footage to figure out what happened prior to Mr Suzuki's death.

The man from Hitachi, a town in the Ibaraki Prefecture, was alert when he was found around 9pm on Tuesday near the escalator's exit (pictured) but later lost consciousness and was taken to a local hospital, local media reports

Mamoru Suzuki, 72, collapsed at the JR Mito Station, in the city of Mito in eastern Japan, after the back of his suit jacket got caught in an escalator which connects the station platform with the ticket gate area (file image of escalators in Tokyo)

This comes after a 12-year-old boy tragically fell 50ft to his death from an escalator in India after his trousers reportedly got caught in the hand rail while he played at the top. 

The boy fell at the Nucleus Mall, in Ranchi, in the eastern Indian state of Jharkhand, on June 22, 2019. 

Footage shows him playing near the top of the escalator at the shopping centre while other shoppers go up and down - but he then tips over the side and loses his grip before falling.

The video, which was filmed from CCTV inside the shopping complex, initially shows the boy standing at the top of the escalator as other shoppers walk past. 

He puts his hand on the motorised rail in an apparent attempt to stop it before he is joined by two other children standing next to him. 

But he suddenly pitches forward and is unable to stop himself tipping over the side, despite frantically trying to do so. 

He still clings on with his right hand above the drop onto the floor below. 

The boy is then briefly dragged down as the escalator descends before he loses his grip and disappears from view as he falls. 

Vishvendu Jaipuriar, a local journalist who witnessed the incident, said: 'The boy was rubbing his body against the escalator's conveyor belt. 

'He was playfully trying to stop with all his might. In the process, he got his pants stuck in the belt and was pulled along.'