Trial began in a premises liability lawsuit where eight fans claimed injuries in an escalator accident at the former Giants Stadium. The stadium was demolished in 2010, but not before the December 29, 2007, escalator accident that injured eight people after the Giant's loss to New England. The eight football fans say that while riding down, the escalator suddenly accelerated. The victims were knocked down and the escalator trapped the victims' legs between the moving metal steps.

Eight fans filed a premises liability lawsuit over the mishap against the company that maintained the escalator and against the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority. The trial began, and during the lunch break Monday the escalator company settled their lawsuit with the eight patrons who claimed injuries. The lawsuit against the authority continues. The amount of the settlement with the escalator company has not been disclosed.

One of the patrons who was injured after the Giants' loss told CBS Sports that when the escalator reached the bottom, he couldn't jump off the fast moving machine. He says "the steps broke apart and swallowed my leg." Since that day, the injured sports fan, who hails from Middlesex, New Jersey, has undergone five surgeries and three years of treatment. In December 2010, doctors amputated his leg below the knee.

A second victim of the accident has undergone more than a dozen surgeries and still runs the risk of losing his foot.

The injured football fans accused the escalator company of faulty maintenance. The escalator company settled the case after opening statements at trial.

The eight injured patrons of the stadium are suing the sports authority for failing to limit the number of people who could use the escalator when the authority was aware of an overloading safety issue. A similar overloading accident occurred in 2000, according to the lawsuit. The plaintiffs say the authority did nothing to resolve the known issue.

Source: CBS Sports, "Company settles in Giants Stadium escalator fiasco," Jan. 9, 2012