Man injured in Harvard MBTA station when he stops to smoke at bottom of escalator, police say

A man fell on a moving escalator inside the MBTA’s Harvard Square Red Line station, then sat at the bottom and smoked a cigarette before his clothing got ensnared in the machinery and he was injured, MBTA Transit Police said.

The incident happened around 9:11 p.m. Thursday and led to a response by Cambridge firefighters who had to extricate the unidentified man from the machinery and rush him to an undisclosed hospital for treatment.

Eng 1, Lad 1, Res 1, Sqd 4, & Div 2 have extricated a person trapped in an escalator at Harvard MBTA. Victim has been treated & transp to a medical facility.
Comtact @MBTATransitPD for any info.@ProEMSCambridge & @CambridgePolice also worked on scene.@CambridgeECC

— Cambridge Fire Dept. (@CambridgeMAFire) January 14, 2022

Transit Police Superintendent Richard Sullivan said Friday the man’s injuries were not life-threatening. He said the man was “known to Transit Police” and currently has no fixed address.

According to Sullivan, the man is seen on T surveillance cameras getting on the downward escalator and about halfway during the ride, “he either lost his balance or decided to sit down on the escalator as he was descending.”

The man was smoking while on the escalator, and he finished the ride sitting down, he said.

“Once he reached the bottom, he decided to remain seated” and continued to smoke, Sullivan said. “As he was smoking, the escalator caught his clothing and he became stuck.”

Sullivan said there was no indication of equipment malfunction.