DRAMATIC footage shows an elderly man and woman tripping up on a supermarket travelator – causing a dangerous pile up.
The heart wrenching CCTV clip shows the man getting stuck at the bottom of the moving walkway outside Sainsbury’s in Hempstead Valley, Kent last month.
The footage has since been shared by Twitter account @KopBlock205 who captioned their post: “Slow motion carnage.”
In the video, posted yesterday, the elderly man can be seen approaching the end of the travelator.
His shopping trolley then becomes stuck, causing him to tumbles backwards onto the walkway, losing his bonnet in the process.
The carnage doesn’t end there however as a woman is also shown coming down the escalator and ends up ramming into the back of the man.
As the motorised walkway continues to move, the man can be seen moving his head underneath the trolley so that the wheels cannot spin against his head.
The woman then also loses her footing on the walkway and falls over the man as he lays on the ground.
Other shoppers can be seen quickly retreating back up the travelator.
One woman is shown trying to frantically pull the shopping carts free from their jammed positions, which are blocking the exit.
Since being shared last night, the heartbreaking clip has been viewed over 1.5 million times and has garnered thousands of comments.
Twitter users have become divided over the clip – with some finding the clip hilarious while others are sympathetic.
@Who_IsM said: “Poor guy. A fall like this could lead to concussion and stitches from a moving floor escalators…Yikes!”
@abrildiaz925 commented: “Omg she was so useless helping and then the people back there just ran away like wtf is the purpose of people.”
Despite many finding the video distressing, others found it hilarious.
@TheLilyPot_ posted: “I feel so bad for laughing at that poor poor man at the bottom. It’s the way the older lady fell. It was so graceful. I hope they are both ok.”
@NtokozoKaNgema also said: “I shouldn’t have watched this. I feel so bad cause I’m in stitches.”
The footage highlights the dangers that travelators can be for elderly and disabled users.
Last year, an 85-year-old man from Brisbane, Australia, revealed he was suing Coles Supermarkets after he sustained a suspected brain injury and broke his shoulder from falling down a travelator.
Sainsbury’s confirmed that the elderly man and the woman were not seriously injured in the incident.
A spokeswoman for Sainsbury’s today said: ““Safety is our highest priority and we’re investigating this incident.
“We are in contact with the customers involved who thankfully were not seriously hurt.”
