At least 20 people have been injured after an\u00a0escalator carrying football fans\u00a0at a\u00a0Rome\u00a0metro\u00a0station malfunctioned and sped up.<\/p>\n
Footage captured by a witness showed passengers, including\u00a0Russians heading to a\u00a0Champions League\u00a0match between Roma and CSKA Moscow,\u00a0being crushed at the bottom of the moving staircase.<\/p>\n
One person was seriously injured in the incident, police said, as\u00a0local newspaper\u00a0Il Messaggero\u00a0<\/em>reported a Russian had had his foot severed.<\/p>\n Repubblica station, in the heart\u00a0of the Italian capital,\u00a0was closed and four ambulances were parked at one of the entrances, a\u00a0witness said.<\/p>\n Local media reported many\u00a0were injured in the stampede that ensued, as people running up stairs in a panic rushed into those descending into the metro station.<\/p>\n \u201cThere was a loud noise while everything went down,\u201d one witness said\u00a0\u201dThere was no time to get to safety.\u201d<\/p>\n The video, which was broadcast on state television, shows the packed escalator\u00a0suddenly speed up, hurtling people towards the bottom. Passengers on the parallel escalator can be seen trying to pull others to safety, while some jump onto the steep central reservation separating the two stairs.<\/p>\n Some football fans were reportedly trapped between the metal plates of the steps.<\/p>\n Local media reports said the accident may have been caused by\u00a0singing and chanting fans\u00a0jumping up and down on it.<\/p>\n \u201cThe scene that we found was people piled up at the bottom of the escalator,\u201d Rome provincial fire chief Giampietro Boscaino said. \u2018\u2019People one on the top of the other looking for help. They had various injuries caused by the escalator that was twisted, therefore serious injuries.\u201d<\/p>\n