A woman in China had a lucky escape after she tripped and fell into an open shark tank during feeding time.

As she rushed through the Wuyue Plaza shopping mall in Jiaxing, in Zhejiang Province, the woman ran across a gangway which has a shark tank built into its underside.

She was caught on camera as she plunged into the water through an opening in the floor. It appears that a cover had been removed to feed the creatures.

After she fell into the water two lemon sharks immediately begin circling her.

But security guards and bystanders who witnessed the incident quickly pulled her out of the water before they could strike.

A spokesman for the mall told local media the gangway is off limits during feeding time. The woman had run across it in her rush to get to a meeting, he said.