AKIPRESS.COM - More than 20 people were hurt, some seriously, when an escalator ran out of control at a Rome metro station, BBC reports.

Footage shared on social media showed people being crushed at the bottom as stairs on the escalator crumpled.

Many of those injured were fans of the visiting Russian football team CSKA Moscow.

One of the fans had a foot partially severed in the crush. At least two others needed surgery for injuries to their legs.

The accident happened before CSKA Moscow's match with Roma in the group stages of the Champions League.

Witnesses quoted by police said the Russian fans had been singing and jumping before the escalator gave way.

Rome officials have opened an investigation into what happened. The city's transport infrastructure is notoriously chaotic but local transport authority Atac said maintenance checks on the station's escalators were carried out on a monthly basis.

City Mayor Virginia Raggi visited the scene of the accident to express her sympathy for the injured.