Toddler dies after mall mishap

MANILA, Philippines - A three-year-old boy died in a Manila hospital yesterday after he was injured in an escalator accident at a mall in Binondo on Sunday.

The boy suffered from a cracked skull and broken arms. He died in the Justice Jose Abad Santos General Hospital at around 7 a.m., according to Superintendent Raymund Liguden, chief of the Manila Police District Station 11.

The boy, a resident of Valenzuela City, was with his mother and nine-year-old sibling at 999 Mall when his mother chanced upon a stall selling shoes on the second floor at around 5:30 p.m.

As the woman looked at the shoes, the boy let go of her hand. She did not chase him – she continued to examine shoes as he played at the escalator.

“She just glanced at him, then went back to looking at shoes,” Liguden said.

A few minutes later, the boy’s hand was stuck in the escalator and he was dragged to the first floor. Based on footage taken by the mall’s security cameras, “the mother was negligent. She did not take the boy in hand. She allowed him to play near the escalator,” Liguden said.

He added that it was the boy’s father who reported the incident to the police. The mall’s owners have provided financial assistance to the family, Liguden said.