News & Photos: Pathetic: 47 year old mother of 2 dies after scarf gets trapped in escalator

Naima Rharouity, a 47-year-old mother of two from Montreal, was strangled to death when an item of clothing got caught in an escalator and had just dropped her son off at daycare when it happened.
She walked four blocks from the École St-Gabriel Lalement in Villeray and into the Fabre métro station, where, moments later, Rharouity would die.

Police say that shortly after 9:15 a.m. Thur Jan.30, her scarf likely became entangled in the station’s escalator and asphyxiated the 47-year-old woman.

As the accident unfolded, a fellow commuter tried to rescue Rharouity from the clutches of the machine. And when she stopped breathing, the commuter performed CPR on her until paramedics could intervene.

But by the time the ambulance arrived on scene, Rharouity was already dead.

The account of Rharouity’s final moments comes from a friend who wishes to remain anonymous. Rharouity’s friend agreed to speak to The Gazette because she took exception to a report from Quebecor Media claiming Rharouity’s hijab, not her scarf, caused the accident.

“It’s upsetting to me that there’s so much emphasis on the hijab and the fact that Rharouity was a Muslim,” the friend said. “Her hijab would have been tucked neatly under her winter coat and a long scarf. I spoke to the person who was next to her when it happened and she says it was a scarf that got caught. I wear a hijab, too, and it just seems impossible that it could ever get caught in an escalator.”

Rharouity, her husband and two sons moved to Montreal from Morocco only eight months ago, according to her brother, Mohammed. He says she quickly fell in love with the city and started volunteering at Projet Villeray dans l’Est — a community centre that helps immigrant families integrate into the north-Montreal neighbourhood through activities and by offering different free services.

Only two weeks ago, Rharouity and other Projet Villeray volunteers took a group of neighbourhood children to see an IMAX movie at the Montreal Science Centre, according to her friend.

“She took French lessons even though she already spoke French. She wanted to learn to speak it just like Quebecers, that’s the kind of person she was,” Mohammed told The Gazette. “I convinced her to come here, I told her Quebec has democracy and multiculturalism, that there’s equality between men and women here.”

Mohammed says his sister had carved out a peaceful new life for her family in Villeray and planned to open a daycare somewhere in the neighbourhood. Then, just past noon on Thursday, two police officers came knocking at Mohammed’s door.

“When they told me what happened I just froze and now it’s just impossible depression,” he said. “I can’t accept that this happened to her. It doesn’t matter if it’s a Quebecer, an immigrant or a homeless person. It’s unacceptable that this happened.”

It’s unclear when a funeral will be held for Rharouity since her husband is in Morocco. Mohammed said the husband went back home because of a death in the family.

The circumstances surrounding the fatal escalator accident remain murky. Police say they aren’t sure if anyone pushed the emergency stop button at the base of the escalator as Rharouity struggled for her life. Investigators reviewed footage from the métro station’s surveillance cameras but it didn’t shed any light on the events leading to Rharouity’s death.

An autopsy will be performed on Rharouity and Montreal police are working closely with the Quebec Coroner’s Office to determine the exact cause of her death.

“(Rharouity) was a private person. She was a devoted mother,” her friend said. “She clearly was (in Montreal) for the better future of her kids and was adjusting well to life here. She was soft-spoken and friendly and got along well with the culturally diverse ladies group at Projet Villeray dans l’Est.”

According to the DailyMail:

The investigators looked at the different views of the cameras of the STM and they weren’t able to determine exactly the sequence of events that led to the death of the woman,’ Constable Daniel Lacoursiere told CTV. Witnesses told police they saw the unnamed victim struggling to free her scarf after it got lodged in the teeth of an escalator on her way down to the subway platform. ‘While she was trying to pull up her scarf from the escalator, her hair got caught too and from there, everything got tied up at the end of the escalators,’ said Constable Jean-Pierre Brabant, of the Montreal police.