Primark re-opens as 100ft fall girl's condition improves
Apr 6 2008 By Richard Down, Liverpool Daily Post
Primark
Stunned shoppers gathered outside Primark in large numbers after the accident and some revealed they had witnessed her plummet three floors.
Paul Donnelly, 15, said: “I saw something falling through the air by the escalator.
“At first I thought it was just a bag that had been dropped but then I realised it was a child.
“I saw her hit the floor. It was horrible.
“People were rushing over and the security guards came and pushed people back. There was a lot of panic and raised voices. Everyone was asking if she was okay.”
Katie Madden, 23, was browsing on the first floor when she heard a shout.
She said: “I heard a loud scream and when I turned around there was a crowd round the escalator.
“Then I saw a lady push through and begin to wail.
“I went over and looked down towards the basement and I saw the little girl with someone leaning over her doing CPR. It was too quick to be a paramedic so I think it was someone from the store.”
Lyndsey Wilcox, 30, also heard the scream. She said: “People came rushing and started clambering over one another to see what had happened. I felt physically sick.
“Others were oblivious to what was happening and carried on shopping. Then the mother arrived, screaming and shouting in her grief.
“She was uncontrollable, screaming and wailing and people were trying to console her the best that they could.
“I can’t understand how the girl could have fallen. It should not happen.”
Some reports suggest the young girl was riding the rubber hand-rail on the escalator and slipped.
Outside the store, Primark regular Jackie Elliot said: “For there to be no protection between the floors is a terrible mistake. Perhaps if there had been something between each floor she wouldn’t have fallen so far.”
The store, which at 84,000 sq ft is one of the biggest in the UK, opened in September. Hundreds gathered outside the doors and the city’s Chamber of Commerce hailed its arrival as a massive money-spinner for Church Street.
The store will open today with the escalators in use after they received clearance from engineers from Liverpool council.
