A recent series of elevator and escalator accidents has triggered public concerns over safety.

The OTIS 513 MPE-type escalator has been suspended across the country by the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ), shortly after an incident that exposed flaws in its design and manufacture at a Beijing subway station on Tuesday. While ascending, the escalator suddenly started moving in the opposite direction, causing the death of a 13-year-old boy and leaving 30 people injured. The escalator was reportedly still in its guarantee period, and maintenance staff had conducted a routine check on June 22, said the Xinhua News Agency.

An initial investigation showed that a component malfunction led to the sudden loosening of the escalator's drive chain. Investigators have also attributed responsibility to the company for poor maintenance work.

In the wake of the accident, other similar incidents were reported. At least two people were injured in an escalator accident at a subway station in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province on Sunday night.

A rising elevator suddenly stopped working and remained in the air at a residential district in Xi'an, capital of Shaanxi Province on Sunday, trapping 13 people in the narrow quarters for three hours until they were rescued by fire fighters.

A descending elevator at a hospital in Xianyang, also in Shaanxi, made an unexpected drop from the seventh floor to the third on Saturday and remained stuck between two floors. Its eleven passengers, including a 70-year-old man who was waiting for an operation, were stranded for nearly an hour.

Shi Juncang, the Special Equipment Supervision Division director for the Xianyang Bureau of Quality and Technical Supervision, said that poor maintenance and overuse of the machines should be blamed for the accident.