Every day, we encounter potentially life-threatening hazards without even noticing. Crossing the street, using electrical devices, or even simply traveling on the subway could land you in some serious trouble - but we just have to go along with life and hope that a freak accident doesn't happen.
Unfortunately, incidents do occur, and there's often nothing we can do about it.
Last month, Mehmet Ali Erik found this out the hard way when he plummeted through a hole into a broken escalator.
The accident happened during rush hour at the Ayazaga Metro station in Istanbul, Turkey, on February 27th. Erik, along with hundreds of other commuters, had piled on to the escalator in order to access the subway, but - as it wasn't moving at the time - was forced to walk down amongst the crowd.
Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality claimed that they'd put a warning sign in place to prevent people from using the facility, but hadn't actually blocked off the stairway.
CCTV footage of the scene shows a steady stream of people traveling down the stationary steps for quite some time without incident. However, as soon as Erik steps on, the escalator begins moving again, creating a hole about five or six stairs wide.
Caught off guard by the sudden movement, Erik lunges to grab hold of the handrail; but it's already too late. He tumbles into the hole and is immediately swallowed up as the following stairs roll over him. Crowds of people begin to gather in order to see where the man has gone, but they are helpless in the situation.
Amazingly, Erik survived the incident, and, after being rescued by firefighters, he was taken to hospital with minor injuries.
So, while he may have been hugely unlucky to have fallen in the first place, Erik was also incredibly fortunate to have made it out alive.
