Local passengers carry South American wheelchair user down steps to Rome metro station.

A 50-year-old wheelchair user from South America was carried down the steps to Cipro metro station after realising that the lift and escalator were both out of order and that the Metro A station was not equipped with a stair lift.

Rome commuters helped to carry the disabled man down the stairs while his heavy wheelchair was dismantled by members of his pilgrimage group, following their visit to the nearby Vatican Museums.

Photographs of the scene, taken on 17 September and published by citizens committee Trionfalmente 17, went viral on social media, arousing general outrage towards Rome's public transport company ATAC.

The ATAC website confirms the situation: "Cipro station: escalators and elevators out of service. We apologise for the inconvenience."

The viral image comes days after hundreds of subway users were forced to walk through a tunnel to the Colosseum after a short circuit on the Metro B line.

Last week four transport officials were charged with "fraud in public supplies and agrravated personal injuries" relating to the breakdown of escalators at the city's Repubblica and Barberini stations.

An investigation discovered that escalator repairs were often carried out in a makeshift manner - sometimes using plastic cable ties; in other cases they were not repaired at all, with safety systems tampered with to cover up malfunctions.

Investigators concluded that Rome's underground network presented "an alarming state of danger for public safety."

Photo Fabrizio Fantilli.