Toddler (centre) lost his life after getting trapped under an escalator handrail in Chongqing, China (Image source: CEN)

A 4-year-old boy lost his life today after getting trapped under the handrail of an escalator.

The horrific incident took place at a metro station in Chongqing, south west China. So far, few details of the accident have been released. Station personnel reportedly responded immediately to the incident. Escalator service was suspended as workers tried to save the body.

When the boy was freed, he had suffocated. The incident is currently under investigation (Image source: CEN)

Although the staff acted quickly, they were unable to save the boy in time. Witnesses said that a woman, believed to be the boy’s mother, held his hand for a minute before he died.

Several photographs have surfaced after the events this morning. A video footage has also appeared. The video showed complete chaos around the escalator.

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This latest tragedy is just one of several escalator accidents to grip China in recent months.

There has been a string of escalator accidents in recent months in China.

Just last month a three-year-old girl got her arm stuck in a supermarket escalator. While that child was able to escape with her life, not all victims have been so lucky. In July 26, a woman in Jingzhou, Hubei province was killed on an escalator at a department store after pushing her young son to safety before getting sucked into the machinery.

In recent accidents at least two of the escalators involved were manufactured by the firm Shanghai Mitsubishi. In this most recent case it’s unclear which company produced the escalator.

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