VIDEO: Woman in China saves son before falling to her death in escalator

JINGZHOU, China -- A mother in China died Sunday when she fell to her death in an escalator, but somehow saved her son before she fell.

WARNING: Some readers might find images disturbing in the video above.

Security camera footage shows the 30-year-old mother and her son riding on the escalator in a shopping mall, and as she gets ready to step off, a metal panel suddenly collapses under her feet. The mother is seen pushing her son forward.

The boy is quickly pulled to safety by a mall employee, but as two other mall employees try to drag the woman out, she's seen disappearing through the hole and into the escalator shaft.

According to the Wuhan Evening News, maintenance work had been carried out on the escalator, and workers forgot to screw the access cover into place.

CNN reports they repeatedly called the shopping mall and the local safety inspection authorities, but they went unanswered Monday.

A representative from the maintenance service provider declined to comment.