Girl plunges down four floors in China shopping mall after glass panel comes loose

BEIJING: A girl died after falling four storeys to the ground in a shopping mall in eastern China’s Shandong province on Saturday (Nov 16).

The girl had been standing near the top of an escalator, leaning on an adjacent glass panel when it gave way at about 8.30pm, according to media outlets. The accident occurred at MixC shopping mall in Jining city in south-western Shandong.

In videos of the incident posted online, a girl is seen leaning against a glass panel, with one hand on the escalator’s moving handrail.

The panel suddenly breaks off and the girl loses her balance, while the handrail of the downward-moving escalator appears to push her torso through the gap where the panel used to be.

She tries to hold onto the escalator’s handrail but fails, and falls through the gap instead. The incident happened within two seconds.

A witness told broadcaster New Tang Dynasty Television that he was looking at gold in a shop on the first floor when he heard a “bang”. He added that the ambulance took more than 10 minutes to arrive due to a traffic jam.

The outlet also reported that the authorities had conducted a safety inspection at the mall, which opened on Nov 2, just 10 days before the incident.

In photos posted online, a girl is seen lying on the ground with broken glass scattered around her, covered by black umbrellas.

Some netizens said the girl was around 14 years of age.

The police on Nov 17 confirmed the girl’s death, and said the incident was still under investigation, reported news outlet Shanghai Observer.

The mall has since resumed operations. – The Straits Times/ANN