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SHOPPERS watched in horror as a man plunged to his death at one of Scotland’s biggest malls.

The tragedy happened at the Buchanan Galleries in Glasgow.

One eye witness, who was on the first floor of the shopping centre, saw a man’s body in mid-air as he plummeted 40ft to the ground.

The witness said: “I was standing outside Boots and I became aware of an object shoot past my peripheral vision, then a ghastly noise that sounded like a bomb going off.

“I was standing next to the rail outside Boots and I saw him land right on his back.”

The witness said that paramedics and police were on the scene within minutes and efforts were made to resuscitate the man.

Police Scotland later said that the 55-year-old man had died at the scene.

The witness added: “It took a while for what happened to sink in but it seemed obvious to me that someone had jumped over the railing on the second floor.

“It is far too high for it to be an accident, as you would have to climb on top of it to get over.

“I could see the man lying on the ground and it didn’t look good.

“People were looking at each other with their hands on their mouths as it all sunk in. It’s really tragic.”

Around 20 police officers attended the scene and a cordon was placed around the south side of the shopping mall.

The Next store was closed and shoppers trying to enter Boots on the top level were advised to enter its lower entrance.

The main entrance at the south side of the mall was re-opened around 2pm, more than four hours after the incident took place.

Another worker at the centre said staff who had seen the incident had been allowed to go home.

She said: “Shops were keen to stay open or get back open as soon as possible but I know of a couple of girls who were told to go home because they were so upset by what they saw.”

A police spokeswoman said: “At 9.40am we were notified that a 55-year-old man was seriously injured after falling in the Buchanan Galleries.

“An ambulance attended but the man was dead at the scene.

“Enquiries are ongoing into the incident, however, there would appear to be no suspicious circumstances surrounding the death.”