Taoyuan: A 7-year-old boy had to be rescued by firefighters at Taoyuan International Airport on Wednesday after jumping into anti-fall netting to play and then getting stuck, the airport's operator said.
According to Focus Taiwan, a person who witnessed the incident reported that at 12:52 p.m., an unaccompanied child in the Terminal 2 arrivals hall climbed up on a trash can. The child then proceeded to cross a guardrail above an escalator wellway, despite the efforts of several bystanders who rushed to stop him.
Ignoring the pleas of those around him, the boy leapt into the anti-fall netting in the wellway and began bouncing around. However, he soon found himself unable to climb out of the netting.
In a statement released later that afternoon, Taoyuan International Airport Corp. (TIAC) confirmed the sequence of events, noting that airport security guards promptly alerted the fire department. Firefighters arrived on the scene, and one of them rappelled down into the wellway to safely extract the child at 1:22 p.m.
The child was unharmed, and after police spoke with his parents, the family was permitted to continue their journey. The TIAC used the opportunity to remind parents and travelers to keep track of their children's whereabouts in the bustling airport environment and to discourage them from climbing on structures.
Taoyuan Airport's Terminal 2 arrivals hall is positioned on the ground floor, featuring escalators that lead to the B1 and B2 levels below.