Woman dies from trolley crush
The South Australian Coroner's court has viewed shocking security video, of the moment a 76-year-old woman was crushed by a shopping trolley with a faulty brake.
The accident happened when elderly Irmgard Polklaser followed her husband, who was pushing their shopping trolley, onto the travelator at Westfield Tea Tree Plaza, in Adelaide's north-eastern suburbs.
Mr Polkhaser was holding onto the three-quarters-full trolley, when he turned around to check on his wife, who was frail and suffered from osteoporosis.
The moment he turned around, the brakes on the trolley failed, and Mr Polkhaser was unable to sustain the weight of the trolley, falling on top of his wife.
Horrified onlookers tried to rush to the elderly couple's aid, as the travelator continued pushing them up to the next level of the shopping centre.
Today, the coroner's court inspected the travelator, in a viewing of the accident scene.
Counsel Assisting, Amanda Taylor, told the court, that the trolley was later inspected and found to have a fault left wheel brake.
Since the accident the trolley's owner, Woolworths, have replaced their entire fleet of 650 trolleys at Tea Tree Plaza.
