Boy's foot severed by escalator

2007-08-07 14:06

Phnom Penh - A Cambodian toddler was in critical condition after his left foot was severed by an escalator at a local market, his family said on Tuesday.

Chhor Mengroik, 3, was being minded by his 10-year-old brother while his mother worked at Olympic Market when his foot became lodged in a crack at the side of the escalator and was sliced off at the ankle by the metal grate at the top, his aunt Theing Vy said.

"Nobody is really sure how it happened. They only realised something was wrong when the child began to scream," Vy said in an interview.

She said rescuers took two and a half hours to recover the severed foot from under the escalator.

Officials said the boy was rushed to hospital in neighbouring Vietnam where medical care is more advanced in an effort to re-attach the limb.

It was unclear if surgery had been successful after the accident, which happened on Sunday, but the toddler was in a critical yet stable condition, according to family members.

Market officials said they had closed the escalator pending an investigation into the accident.

Escalators are not common in Cambodia and are often old and in bad repair. At least one modern shopping mall in the capital has employed full-time staff to assist customers in using its escalators. - Sapa-dpa

- SAPA