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A screengrab from the mall CCTV video. Image Credit: YouTube

Imagine being on a mall escalator that suddenly lurches out of control.

That’s exactly what happen to shoppers in Hong Kong, leaving a pile of bodies and 17 people injured.

CCTV footage caught the incident, which happened at the Mong Kok mall in Langham Place.

Initially shoppers can be seen moving up the escalator, as happens every day in malls all over the world.

But suddenly the up escalator starts moving rapidly down, throwing some people off the bottom and causing others to fall.

The shoppers eventually end up in a pile at the bottom of the stairs. Other shoppers rushed towards them to make sure people were not badly hurt.

The incident happened on Saturday, and since then the footage has been viewed thousands of times on social media.

One eyewitness said: “I heard people screaming. The escalator was going down but the speed accelerated.

“People started to panic and some fell down.”

Watch the video here: