A Chinese woman managed to toss her small child safely into the arms of two female employees moments before being swallowed inside a broken escalator on Sunday. The horrifying incident was caught on CCTV at a department store in Jingzhou City in central China.
The 30-second video, the woman, identified by local media as Xiang Liujuan, and her young son, nicknamed Tongtong, are seen riding to the top of a shopping mall escalator.
As the two get to the top, a metal panel on the edge of the escalator suddenly collapsed, and Xiang fell into the gap. According to reports, Xiang’s body was recovered four hours later, after crews disassembled the escalator.
Officials in Jingzhou blamed human error for the tragedy at a news conference Monday night.
WARNING: This video may be disturbing to some viewers.