Video Captures Woman’s Death As She Saves Son In Escalator Accident

Authorities say the fatal accident in China was preventable.
People ride up an escalator at the New Century Global Center on June 30, 2015, in Chengdu, China.

People ride up an escalator at the New Century Global Center on June 30, 2015, in Chengdu, China.

John Moore/Getty Images

A Chinese woman was killed Sunday after a floor panel at the top of a mall escalator collapsed under her feet.

Harrowing footage from a mall in central China captures the moment the mother pushes her child to safety when the floor gives way. See the graphic video below.

Xiang Liujuan, 30, managed to pass her 2-year-old son into the arms of a shopping assistant before slipping through the gap, according to Shanghaiist.

The store employee scrambles to pull the woman to safety, but is unsuccessful. Firefighters at the Anliang Mall in Jingzhou city, Hubei province worked for four hours to recover her body on Sunday.

Rescue workers told local media that the woman's body was dragged into the treads of the escalator, according to the Hong Kong Free Press.

WARNING: VIDEO IS DISTURBING.

Jingzhou Police told CNN the incident is still under investigation.

Chinese state media reports that maintenance workers forgot to screw in the metal floor panel at the top of the escalator, which was located between the mall's sixth and seventh floors.

The woman's husband was shopping in a different part of the mall when the fatal incident occurred.

Footage of the accident was posted to China’s Twitter-like Sina Weibo social network on Monday, where it accrued more than 6.6 million views.

The Guardian UK reports that lax enforcement of safety standards has made China "prone" to accidents such as this.

State media reported Monday that the tragedy could have been averted if one of the employees had pushed the escalator's emergency stop button.

Ma Peizhong, director of the Chinese National Elevator Inspection and Testing Center, told China Central Television on Monday night that staff members at the mall “probably did not receive training” on how to manage escalators, according to the Hong Kong Free Press.

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