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A cleaner mopping an escalator at a Shanghai mall had to have his foot amputated after it was caught in the machine on Saturday. Photo: SCMP Pictures

Video shows moment Chinese cleaner's foot - later amputated - became stuck in Shanghai mall escalator

Man's limb becomes trapped and has to be partially amputated a week after a mother dies in a similar incident in a Hubei shopping centre

Shanghai doctors were forced to amputate a shopping mall cleaner's foot after it was trapped in an escalator on the weekend, barely a week after a woman died in similar circumstances in Hubei province.

The 35-year-old man, identified only as Zhang, was mopping the escalator's steps at the Longemont Shopping Mall in Changning district on Saturday when his left foot was caught in the section where the stairs meet the floorplate. He cried out for help, shouting his leg was broken.

The foot was so badly injured that doctors had to amputate it, the website of the Shanghai-based reported on Sunday.

Watch: Cleaner at Shanghai mall has leg amputated after it becomes stuck in an escalator (WARNING: VIDEO CONTAINS STRONG IMAGES)

"The doctor said he had to amputate the [foot] to avoid the injuries from deteriorating," the report quoted an unnamed family member of the victim as saying, adding that Zhang had worked at the mall for three months.

According to news portal Eastday.com Zhang said he felt the escalator shaking as his left foot was trapped.

"But the escalator did not stop and I had to press the emergency button," he was quoted as saying.

But the shopping mall said Zhang had "improperly" stepped on his mop. "The brush of the mop was trapped inside the gap in the stairs, which caused cracks in the comb plate," the mall said in a statement.

Shanghai safety authorities said last night that the incident occurred when Zhang used a mop to clean the escalator, China News Service reported.

It was the second serious incident involving an escalator on the mainland in a week; 30-year-old mother Xiang Liujuan died after she fell through an escalator floorplate at a shopping mall in Jingzhou .

Xiang pushed her two-year-old son to safety before being dragged into the machinery. An official investigation later revealed the plates had worked themselves loose and were improperly designed.

Saturday marked the seventh day after Xiang's death, an important day of mourning in Chinese tradition.

The escalator that killed Xiang was made by the Suzhou Shenlong Elevator Company, while the one involved in the Shanghai incident was manufactured by Shanghai Mitsubishi Elevator Company.

The Hubei Bureau of Quality and Technical Supervision called for safety checks on all Shenlong escalators installed in the province and for them to be taken offline until the accident investigation was completed and measures had been taken to rectify any problems.

Shanghai's quality inspection authority also said 90 Shenlong escalators had been taken out of operation in the city.

Shanghai has 17,118 escalators and moving pavements in malls and other public venues, according to the . Shanghai authorities said they carried out safety checks on all escalators last week and found "safety risks" with Shenlong machines of the same type as that in the Hubei accident.

In another incident on Saturday, a six-year-old boy's foot was stuck in an escalator at a Beijing mall. He sustained minor injuries, reported.

Shanghai Metro said last month that there were 120 reports of passengers falling down escalators in the first quarter, and most of the injured were elderly.

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: Cleaner loses foot caught in Shanghai mall escalator
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