Harrowing Footage Captures Doomed Mother’s Desperate Act Before Being Crushed by Escalator

Harrowing footage taken from a mall in China Sunday captured the moment a mother tossed her chid to safety before being swallowed by an escalator after the floor suddenly gave way.

The video shows the 30-year-old mother and son on the escalator as normal. As the two come to exit, the panel below the pair collapsed. The mother can be seen in the footage pushing her child to safety before falling into the hole.

State media later reported that the woman had died, according to CNN.

[sharequote align="right"]"An ordinary Sunday shopping trip ended up in such a sudden tragedy..."[/sharequote]

Employees at the Jingzhou mall blamed human error for the tragic accident, saying the panel had been loose minutes before it gave way, CNN reported.

A social media user who said she was the victim's sister spoke out about the incident.

"An ordinary Sunday shopping trip ended up in such a sudden tragedy, almost ruining an entire family," Weibo user @KKcake wrote, according to CNN.

"The shopping mall is still open and the killer escalators are still running," she added. "Shoppers have no idea about the tragedy upstairs and no one knows if such disasters will strike again."

—

Follow the author of this story on Twitter and Facebook:

Follow @oliverdarcy