Terrifying moment man swallowed, trapped by escalator

A commuter has been swallowed by an escalator after it collapsed during rush hour.

CCTV footage shows a stream of people walking down the escalator, which was out of action for repairs, at Ayazaga Metro station in Istanbul, Turkey.

But it suddenly began moving causing a line of people to simultaneously fall down the metal stairs, with some trying to grip on to the handrail.

One man, who the Turkish media named as Mehmet Ali Erik, at that moment stepped on but a section opened up leaving large gaping hole that swallowed him.

The escalator suddenly moved, with a section at the top opening up, swallowing the victim. Photo / Liveleak

The escalator, with the victim still underneath, then kept moving for a few seconds before coming to halt, the Daily Mail reported.

Witnesses stood for a few moments before they rushed to the edge of the hole and looked down to check on Mr Erik's condition.

The victim was reportedly trapped for one hour under the metal stairs.

After he was rescued by firefighters, he was taken by ambulance to hospital after the accident on February 27.

The escalator kept moving after the man was swallowed up when a section collapsed. Photo / Liveleak

Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality had reportedly put up a warning sign near the broken escalator before the accident occurred – but it failed to prevent people from using it.

In 2015 mother was killed when she fell into an escalator at a shopping mall in China, after she heroically threw her toddler to safety.

Xiang Liujuan, 30, was travelling up the escalator at Anliang department store in Jingzhou, in the central province of Hubei, with her two-year-old son.

When the pair reached the top, however, a floor-plate gave way and the woman fell through the floor.

Seconds before falling to her death, the mother was able to thrust her toddler towards mall staff, who dragged the child to safety.