An SMRT maintenance worker being taken to hospital for smoke inhalation after smoke emanated from a faulty escalator inside Ang Mo Kio MRT station yesterday. A section of the station was cordoned off and the linkway to nearby mall AMK Hub was closed. Initial investigations showed the smoke could have come from the faulty escalator's overheated motor bearings which had been replaced before the incident, said Ms Margaret Teo, SMRT's vice-president of corporate communications. "At around 1.20pm, our staff detected smoke from an escalator leading towards the linkway to AMK Hub. For the safety of our commuters, all three escalators were turned off and the linkway was closed immediately." Ms Teo said the other two escalators nearby have been switched off pending safety checks. The linkway was reopened at 6.10pm. Train services on the North-South Line were not affected, SMRT said.