An 11-year-old boy in south China got his head trapped in a narrow gap between the handrail of an escalator and the wall.
The boy had been peering over the handrail of the moving stairway at a shopping centre in Chenzhou city before getting his neck stuck, leaving him unable to move.
A mall worker discovered the boy and immediately pressed the emergency button. The child suffered scratches on his neck and was taken to hospital.
Video footage of the terrifying incident in Hunan province shows the boy climbing down an upward escalator on August 21 at about 12:36pm.
He was reportedly at the mall with his parents but was left playing on the moving stairway attended, according to Hunan Economic Station.
The boy was then seen peering and climbing over the handrail of the escalator before suddenly getting his neck trapped in the tiny gap.
He was left wobbling on the side of the moving staircase, unable to pull his head back out.
Several passers-by as well as the escalator maintenance team were seen helping the struggling boy after the quick-thinking mall worker, later identified as Tan Feng, pressed the emergency stop switch.
Emergency services were alerted to the scene and the child was taken to hospital.
Fortunately, he only suffered minor injuries to his neck.
An 11-year-old boy in south China got his head trapped in a narrow gap between the handrail of an escalator and the wall
The boy had been peering over the handrail of the moving stairway at a shopping centre in Chenzhou city before getting his neck stuck, leaving him unable to move
Escalators are often a safety hazard in China, with malfunctions causing serious injuries and sometimes even death.
in late July, a one-year-old toddler nearly lost her right arm after it was swallowed by a faulty escalator in Herun Wanjia supermarket Yongzhou city, Hunan Province.
In July 2015, a woman in Jingzhou, in Hubei province threw her child to safety seconds before she fell through a loose panel at the top of a mall escalator, killing her.
Video footage of the terrifying incident in Hunan province shows the boy climbing down an upward escalator on August 21 at about 12:36pm