Man dead after falling from escalator at Toronto mall

One man is dead after falling from an escalator at the RioCan Empress Walk Plaza in North York Thursday evening.

Toronto police said they were called to the mall around 5 p.m. following reports of an industrial accident. The man involved was pronounced dead at the scene.

Lucas Hay said he arrived at the mall around 6 p.m. and saw police tape surrounding the escalator that goes from the ground floor to the second floor.

He said an announcement was made on the intercom telling shoppers the mall was closed and asking everyone to leave. He said no reason was provided for the closure.

“There was no panic at all. It was just because there were a lot of people around so they had to slowly usher everyone out,” Hay said.

RioCan, the company that manages the mall, told Global News in a statement Thursday evening that it is fully co-operating with an ongoing investigation.

Toronto police confirmed Friday morning the incident is not criminal in nature and that the investigation is being led by the Ministry of Labour.

However, the ministry said in a statement “the incident did not involve a worker or workplace activity and does not fall under the ministry’s jurisdiction.”