Chinese Mother Saves Son, Falls To Death In Freak Escalator Accident

A mother in China was killed in a freak escalator accident, but managed to push her 2-year-old to safety. The incident was caught on video.

The mother, 30-year-old Xiang Liujuan, was riding up the escalator at the Anliang department store in Jingzhou, China, with her son, the Daily Mail reported. At the top of the escalator, the floor gave way and Xiang fell to her death.

The mother managed to push her son into the arms of waiting staff, who also tried to save the woman. Reports said the escalator was recently closed for maintenance and workers forgot to properly screw it back in place.

The accident has been a topic of conversation on Chinese social media, with a video collecting 6.6 million views. Some observers note that corruption has led to lax regulations and safety standards in China: In recent years a 12-year-old and a 13-year-old were killed in separate escalator accidents in Beijing.

Injuries and deaths on escalators are considered rare occurrences. In the U.S., some 35,000 escalators account for 105 billion passenger trips a year. Between 1997 and 2010, there were 39 passenger deaths in the U.S. from escalators -- or roughly two per year, according to a study by the Center for Construction Research and Training. But there are estimated to be between 6,000 and 10,000 escalator-related injuries a year.

Still, taking the escalator is safer than taking the stairs: Each year, nearly 12,000 people die in the U.S. from falling down the stairs, Popular Science says.