Girl, 11, fighting for life after falling from escalator in shopping centre
An 11-year-old girl is fighting for her life after plunging 25ft from a shopping centre escalator.
The girl, who has not been named, suffered serious head injuries after falling from stairs inside the Wheatsheaf Centre in Rochdale.
An air ambulance took the girl to hospital, where she is fighting for her life, police have confirmed.
Horrified witnesses said the girl’s mum and a passerby, who offered his shirt and pressed it against the girl’s head to stop heavy bleeding, cared for the girl before parademics arrived.
One shocked witness told the Manchester Evening News that she believed the girl had fallen from the very top of an escalator.
“I cannot get the image out of my head,” they said.
“We had just got to the top of the escalator when we heard screaming. A security guard came running past us and she landed on the stone floor.
“There was blood everywhere and it was awful to see. She was conscious because she was crying.
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“People were just in shock — there was loads of people on their phones to get ambulances there. Her mother was holding her head and crying, saying it was her ‘baby girl’. My partner took his shirt off to try to stem the blood.”
A Greater Manchester Police spokesman said: “Police and emergency services were called to the Wheatsheaf shopping centre in Rochdale at 3.10pm on Sunday.
“It followed a report of an 11-year-old girl who had fallen from an escalator in the shopping centre. Ambulance crews and police attended. She was taken to hospital by air ambulance.
“The 11-year-old girl was taken to hospital where she remains in a life-threatening condition.
“Enquiries are ongoing but there are not thought to be any suspicious circumstances. Specially trained officers are offering her family support at this difficult time.”
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