Man dies after falling from North York mall escalator: police

Police are on the scene of an industrial accident inside Empress Walk mall on Thursday, June 25, 2026. (Jacob Estrin)

A man has died after he fell from an escalator at a mall in North York on Thursday afternoon.

Toronto police say they received reports of an incident on an escalator at RioCan Empress Walk shortly after 5 p.m.

Emergency services arrived and a man was later pronounced dead at the scene, police say.

The mall was evacuated and closed as a result.

The circumstances surrounding the incident are not immediately known but police say the man was not working on the escalator.

Police say the incident is not being treated as a criminal matter and that the Ministry of Labour will be investigating.

In a statement, RioCan said it is fully cooperating with the investigation.

“As this is an active police investigation, we are unable to comment further and defer questions regarding the circumstances of the incident to Toronto Police,” RioCan said.