Baby dies after slipping from mother's arms on mall escalator

A little girl died in the Lulu International Shopping Mall Kochi, in Kerala on Sunday when she fell from the second floor of the mall’s escalator.

The 15-month-old Swaya Fathima, youngest of the three children in the family, was in her mother’s arms when she suddenly slipped and fell on the escalator even as the mother was trying to get on it.

The toddler sustained severe internal head injuries. She succumbed to her injuries after two hours even though she was rushed to the nearby Amritha Hospital where she was declared dead.

Sub-inspector Vijaya Shankar from the Kalamashery Police Station has been quoted by local media as saying that the baby slipped from her mother’s arms as soon as she stepped on the escalator. Sources in Kochi said the mall is overcrowded during the weekends, especially on Sundays.

The NRI family was longing to visit the Lulu International Shopping Mall for quite some time and ultimately drove all the way from Malappuram district on Sunday.

“The mother could be using an escalator for the first time and initially she tried to use the staircase to be on the safer side. However, other family members encouraged her to return to the escalator. There are lifts, staircases and escalators to facilitate smooth movement of customers to different floors,” said a source in the mall.

Mustafa, the father of the girl, works in Saudi Arabia and was in Kerala for Eid holidays when the tragedy struck the youngest member of the family. The baby’s body has been handed over to the family.

According to reports, there will be no police case filed as eyewitness accounts confirmed it as an accident.

(Home page image courtesy Shutterstock)

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