A 3-year-old boy in Suzhou, Jiangsu province, was strangled to death in a mall on Tuesday afternoon when his clothes got caught in an escalator on which he had been playing, Yangtze Evening newspaper reported.

The boy's father borrowed a pair of scissors to cut away clothing that had tightened around the child's neck.

However, by the time he was freed, the boy's face had turned purple, and by the time he arrived at a nearby hospital he had no heartbeat and was not breathing.

He was declared dead about one hour later.

The doctor who tried to save the boy said he died of too much pressure on the chest, which prevented the heart and lungs from working normally.

The boy's parents, who own a store in the mall, are negotiating for compensation with the mall's owners.