Follow us on Telegram for the latest updates: https://t.me/mothershipsg

A girl's hand was caught in a disinfecting device attached to an Asia Square Tower 1 escalator on Jul. 3.

Her mother had to pull her hand out of the device and the skin on the back of her hand and finger was ripped off.

What happened

The five-year-old was out with her family to eat dinner at the retail and office building in Marina Bay at around 5:15pm that day, reported Shin Min Daily News.

Her parents had also brought along her two brothers, aged one and seven.

The girl's mother, surnamed Hu, said the girl is 110cm tall and was two or three steps ahead of the rest of the family when they were going down the escalator.

Hu said: "We taught our children to hold on to the handrail. When we reached the lower floor, I suddenly saw that my daughter was stuck and her head was hitting a standing notice board in front of the escalator. That was when I knew something was wrong."

Hu rushed down to see the girl's left hand stuck in a disinfecting device that emitted ultraviolet light.

As she could not see the machinery in the device, she was worried that her daughter's fingers would get twisted.

She quickly pulled her daughter's hand out of the device, and the girl burst into tears.

"Her entire hand was in the device. When I pulled her hand out, a piece of skin from the back of her hand had come off. Her finger and the back of her hand was bleeding," said Hu.

Girl was not playing with the device

Hu also got a security guard to call an ambulance and bring a first-aid kit, and the girl was sent to the hospital for an X-ray.

The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) told Mothership they received a call for assistance at 8 Marina View and conveyed one person to KK Women's and Children's Hospital.

The woman admitted that she had been incredibly worried when the incident took place and had a poor attitude towards the security guard.

Despite this, she told Shin Min the security guard was very patient.

The guard calmed her daughter down and managed to get her to stop crying, which she was very grateful for.

Although her daughter was not supposed to be so far ahead of her, she believes the incident would have taken place even if she were holding onto her daughter's hand.

Hu said: "The device is on both sides of the handrail of the escalator. My daughter was not playing, she was just holding onto the handrail."

Concerned that injury will affect girl's piano playing

Hu told Shin Min she is concerned that the incident would leave her daughter with scars and affect her progress in learning to play the piano.

Her piano teacher said the girl, who has been learning piano for half a year, was gifted.

Hu said she looked into the device after the incident and saw what appeared to be gears, which could have led to more severe injury to her daughter's fingers.

She said no one contacted them after the incident.

She is also looking for compensation for the incident and hopes the management can acknowledge the problem so that such incidents do not occur in the future.

She said: "Children are very small, they cannot see the device from where they are going down the escalator."

It was reported that the device was installed before the Covid-19 pandemic.

Investigations ongoing

A spokesperson from Asia Square told AsiaOne that investigations are ongoing and they are not able to comment at this moment.

They added that they are in touch with the girl's father and have assured him that they will get back to him as soon as possible.

Mothership.sg has reached out to Asia Square separately.

Top images by Shin Min Daily News.