GEORGE TOWN • A family outing at a shopping mall in the Malaysian state of Penang turned disastrous when three-year-old Ng Juen Shen almost lost his right hand.

The boy was taking the escalator down to the ground floor when he sat down and rested his right hand by his side, which then got stuck in the edge of the escalator, reported The Star.

A security guard on duty hit the emergency stop button upon hearing the boy's father, Mr Ng Wei Kang, 30, shouting for help.

Juen Shen's torment, however, was not over.

His hand was stuck for some 10 minutes before the Fire and Rescue Department and mall staff prised open a gap between one of the escalator steps and the edge to free the boy's hand.

The incident happened at about 6pm on Wednesday.

The skin on his hand was ripped off right up to the wrist.

A traumatised Mr Ng said: "There was so much blood and I could see the bones on my son's hand. I almost fainted. I quickly carried him out of the mall and a motorist helped take us to the hospital."

Staff at Penang Hospital said an X-ray showed none of the boy's fingers was broken.

It was the latest in a series of accidents involving children and escalators. Last month, a 15-month-old toddler had his right hand severed at the wrist after it got stuck in an escalator at KL Sentral in Kuala Lumpur.

The boy was believed to be playing near the escalator when the incident took place, reported Malay-language daily Harian Metro.

Police said the toddler's parents had been busy shopping and did not notice that their son had wandered off towards the escalator.

In April, a six-year-old girl fell through the gap of an escalator, from the second floor to the basement, at the Kenanga Wholesale City mall in Kuala Lumpur.

She died from severe head injuries, reported Malay Mail Online.

The CCTV footage showed the girl's mother standing next to her when the incident occurred.