Witnesses have told how a distraught mother cradled her daughter after she fell 25 feet (7m) from an escalator inside a shopping centre in Rochdale, suffering critical injuries.
The 11-year-old remained in a life-threatening condition in hospital on Monday after the accident inside the Wheatsheaf shopping centre around 3.10pm on Sunday.
Greater Manchester Police are looking into the Yorkshire Street incident, but say there are not thought to be any suspicious circumstances.
It’s not believed that the girl was pushed or that the escalator collapsed.
Specially trained officers are supporting the family, the force added.
Eyewitnesses were left horrified by the accident which saw the girl plunge to the ground from the top escalator, suffering serious head injuries.
She was also thought to have broken several other bones, and was conscious as blood pooled around her.
The girl’s distraught mum was seen cradling her while waiting for emergency services to arrive, the Manchester Evening News reported, and one man took off his shirt and pressed it to the girl’s head to try and stem heavy bleeding.
The witness said: “I cannot get the image out of my head.
“We had just got to the top of the escalator when we heard screaming. A security guard came running past us and she landed on the stone floor.
“There was blood everywhere and it was awful to see. She was conscious because she was crying.
“People were just in shock - there was loads of people on their phones to get ambulances there. Her mother was holding her head and crying, saying it was her ‘baby girl’. My partner took his shirt off to try to stem the blood.”
Wheatsheaf shopping centre is yet to comment publicly on the accident.