Faulty escalators have been blamed for several accidents lately, with one even taking a mother's life. (Photo : YouTube)
A video footage showed how a Chinese mother saved her young son moments before falling to her death on a shopping mall escalator on July 26. Local investigation cited "human error" as the reason for the escalator's malfunction and the tragic death.
Personnel in the AZG Mall in Jingzhou City, Hubei province realized that the escalator was out of order when Xiang Liujuan, 31, and her two-year-old son were already halfway up. Two female employees were stationed at the top to assist them, but on the landing, the panel collapsed and swallowed Xiang after pushing her son to safety.
Although the employees were able to grab the young boy, they failed to pull Xiang out of the gap. In the video, she caught hold of the unstable panel and dangled with her lower body already inside the gap before falling inside.
According to CNN, Xiang was declared dead when local authorities found her in a rescue operation that lasted four hours.
Work Safety Administration's Chen Guanxin, who led the investigation, said the mall staff had reported a loose panel on top of an escalator, but the maintenance personnel did not perform any inspection or repairs right away.
Apparently, they forgot to screw the panel back into place after repairing it earlier, Mail Online reported.
Xiang's family was devastated and aggrieved after the incident. A family member said Xiang's husband, Zhang Wei, nearly "collapsed" after seeing his wife fall into the gap.
Moreover, Xiang's sister-in-law called for the incident's transparent investigation. Her anger and frustration was apparent in her Weibo blog. She said, "The shopping mall is still open and the killer escalators are still running."
Two more incidents of malfunctioning escalators in shopping malls in China were reported on July 27.
Watch the video here:
