SINGAPORE - A 25-year-old woman escaped with a minor scratch after she managed to leap off an escalator just seconds before the steps buckled.

The malfunction happened at The Centrepoint shopping mall on Thursday (Sept 7) at around 2.05pm, according to Stomp.

Stomper Tran Huu Minh, 39, told The Straits Times that he was with his four-year-old daughter and his maid when the incident happened.

His daughter attends Mindchamps Preschool in Paragon, and they were passing through The Centrepoint while heading back to their home in Cavenagh Road.

"Usually she (his daughter) would walk with me. But yesterday she was sleepy, so she was in the pram," said Mr Tran, who works in the IT sector.

"We were taking the escalator down. Our maid was quite a number of steps behind. When we had alighted, the escalator made an incredible crunching sound, so I shouted for her (his maid) to jump."

"Luckily she did, because exactly where she was standing was where the step collapsed in."

Mr Tran said that even though his maid did make that leap, she still got a minor scratch on her leg.

He said that the building's management had contacted him on Friday (Sept 8) morning.

"I was disappointed with the public safety issue. After the incident happened, one security guard turned up five minutes later. After that, about three or four technicians came, but they still didn't cordon off the escalator until awhile later," he said.

Photos taken by him show the escalator steps buckling and collapsing inwards at the bottom of the flight.

A spokesman for The Centrepoint confirmed that an escalator located at basement one of the shopping mall broke down at 2.10pm on Thursday.

"Two shoppers with a stroller were using the escalator when the incident happened. One of the shoppers suffered a scratch on her leg. We are in touch with the shoppers."

The spokesman added that the mall has notified the Building and Construction Authority (BCA) and is working with the escalator vendor OTIS to investigate the incident.

"We share the shopper's concern and regret any inconvenience caused. We also continue to encourage all shoppers with luggage, prams or trolleys to use the lifts instead."

The spokesman added that the escalator is currently closed for maintenance and the area has been cordoned off until further notice.

A BCA spokesman said the agency had been notified of the incident and its engineers had inspected the escalator.

It will be issuing a notice to suspend the escalator, and the owner has to engage an Authorised Examiner to investigate the incident, recommend rectification works and submit a report to BCA.

"BCA will also be conducting an independent investigation into the incident. The escalator will only be allowed to resume operation after rectification works are completed, to the satisfaction of BCA."