WATCH: Why kids should never sit on escalators

One mum is thanking her lucky stars after her young son narrowly managed to escape injury after a shocking incident on a shopping centre escalator.

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Serving as a warning to other parents, the footage was taken at a mall in Jilin, China, and has since gone viral, revealing just how easy it is for young kids to get trapped in moving escalators.

In the clip, the mum can be seen calmly standing next to her son as he sits on an escalator step.

However halfway down, disaster strikes. The young boy – who appears to be playing with the bristles at the edge of the escalator - gets his hand caught in the narrow gap.

The panicked mum can be seen springing to her son’s side and desperately trying to free him.

Luckily for her, a shopping centre worker happens to step onto the escalator at that second and wastes no time.

The quick-thinking woman quickly turns around, and presses the emergency stop button, before rushing down to help the pair.

The Mirror reports fire services later freed the boy, and he was treated for abrasions and bruising – but escaped serious injury.

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