3-month-old baby dies after mum drops him over side of escalator

All it took was a split second and her world came falling down.

On Saturday (March 30) afternoon, a Chinese woman was taking the escalator when she lost her footing and accidentally dropped her baby over the side of the fourth-floor escalator.

The incident happened in a shopping centre in the town of Changping, located in the South China province of Guangdong.

In CCTV footage that has been shared on social media, the mother could be seen standing on the left side of the escalator, holding her baby with her left arm, before tragedy struck.

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rEM4epX6rUE[/embed]

After the baby fell over, the mother was seen looking over the handrails, seemingly in a frantic state, before she raced down the escalator with her older son.

It was reported in the Chinese media that both mother and son hurried towards the baby, who was found laying still on the ground. He was barely breathing.

The paramedics also rushed to the scene and after resuscitation attempts failed, the baby was pronounced dead.

According to reports, the mother was seen hugging her older son and crying on the floor of the shopping centre.

Although Chinese media didn't report the baby's gender, Taiwanese media said that the deceased was a boy.

In a statement, local officials put the baby's age between three to four months and cited the baby's death as accidental.

The statement attributed the cause to the mother "losing her balance while taking the escalator down from the fourth floor to the third floor".

Local officials added that police investigations are still ongoing.

bryanlim@asiaone.com