A woman has died after getting trapped in the mechanical part of an escalator in a shopping centre in China.

CCTV footage shows that Xiang Liujuan, 30, had reached the top of the escalator when the landing platform beneath her feet suddenly collapsed, with the escalator still rolling.

Ms Xiang managed to push her two-year-old child away before disappearing in the mechanism.

A worker at the mall managed to grab the boy, but the woman could not be saved.

The incident happened in the city of Jingzhou, in Hubei province, with rescue workers recovering the woman's body several hours later after disassembling the escalator.

BBC reports the incident has been widely discussed on Chinese social media, with users calling for answers from the shopping centre and criticising safety standards in the country. 

One user wrote that images and accounts of the incident helped show "how strong a mother's love can be - during such a sudden event, the mother's first reaction was still to push the child away from the gap."