SHANGHAI • In the latest incident involving escalator safety in China, a cleaner's leg had to be amputated after it got stuck in an escalator at a shopping mall.

The 35-year-old man, identified only as Mr Zhang, was cleaning the steps on the moving escalator at the Longemont Shopping Mall in Shanghai last Saturday night when his leg got wedged in the section between the top step and the floor panel.

The Shanghai-based Xinmin Evening News reported on Sunday that the escalator, manufactured by Shanghai Mistubishi Elevator Co, was halted immediately. The man was rushed to hospital, but his leg was so badly damaged that doctors had no choice but to amputate it.

The incident took place after the mall had already closed.

Mr Zhang told Beijing News Daily that he had felt the escalator shaking when he was cleaning it. The floor panel gave way suddenly, and his mop was dragged into the gap, following which his left leg got trapped.

He added that the escalator did not stop moving until he pressed the emergency stop button.

The mall said in a statement that Mr Zhang had "improperly" stepped on his mop, the South China Morning Post reported yesterday. "The brush of the mop was trapped inside the gap in the stairs, which caused cracks in the comb plate," the mall said.

It is the third high-profile escalator-related tragedy in China in a week, further increasing paranoia among users in the country.