The Ministry of Labour has been notified after a man fell from an escalator and died 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.
RioCan, the company that manages the mall, told Global News in a statement that it is fully co-operating with the ongoing investigation.
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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.
“We saw a blanket over [the ground] and a lot of cops and security guards just around and then eventually we were outside and we saw people coming out [of the mall],” he told Global News.
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.
Toronto police confirmed the incident is not criminal in nature and that the investigation is being led by the Ministry of Labour.
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