A 30-year-old woman managed to push her young son to safety before
falling into mechanism of escalator in Jingzhou department store, China.
CCTV clip of the woman and son. Snapshot from a video: Singaporeseen
According to The Guardian, the woman was killed after she plunged
through flooring over an escalator in a Chinese department store,
thrusting her toddler to safety as she fell to her death.
The Wuhan Evening News said that Xiang Liujuan, 30, was holding her son
in front of her as they went up the stairway on Saturday.
Employees watch as the woman climbs with her son. Snapshot from a video: Singaporeseen
Security camera footage shows all the horrible detais of the incident. A
panel in the floor gave way as Xiang stepped off the escalator. The
breach let her half-way, and all she could do was to push her son
forward, and a nearby shop assistant dragged him to safety.
However, the escalator continued rolling, and several seconds later
Xiang was seen disappearing downwards into the mechanism, despite one of
the staff briefly grabbing her hand.
Employees trying to save Xiang Liujuan. Snapshot from a video: Singaporeseen
Reports say that it took firefighters more than four hours to cut open
the machine and recover the woman, who showed “no signs of life.
Footages show employees standing at the top of the escalator as the
mother and child approach.
It was gathered that maintenance had just been carried out on the
escalator at the Anliang department store in Jingzhou in the central
province of Hubei, and workers forgot to screw the access cover back
into place. The accident stirred an uproar, as it became one of the top
topics on China’s Twitter-like Sina Weibo on Monday with more than 6.6
million views. Reports have it that most of the comments expressed fury
at the shop management:
“Why didn’t the staffers stop customers at the entrance to the machine or just turn it off?” “The department store is definitely responsible.” Some others were inspired by the woman’s final actions:
“I was appalled when I saw her sink and at the same time felt the
greatness of maternal love – the mother wasted no time pushing the child
out when it happened.” Records have it that China is prone to safety
accidents as regulations and standards are often flouted and enforcement
is lax, sometimes due to corruption.
It must be recalled that in 2012, a nine-year-old boy was killed after
he got stuck in an escalator at a Beijing department store as horrified
shoppers looked on. Also, in July 2011, a 13-year-old boy was killed and
more than 20 others injured when an escalator in a Beijing underground
station suddenly reversed direction during the rush hour.
Post a Comment