This is the shocking moment an out-of-control shopping trolley crashed into an old man in a supermarket in Taiwan.

The pensioner was standing at the checkout speaking with the cashier when the cart came thundering down a walkway behind him.

A store assistant had been taking the trolley filled with grocery items down the sloped escalator when it slipped out his hands.

Another supermarket attendant saw the approaching cart and tried to kick it out of the customer’s way but without success.

The steel cart, filled with goods, smashed into the back of the old man’s legs before he was slumped down the counter in pain in Kaohsiung City on January 3.

The frantic cashier immediately called the security guards for help while the store attendants picked up the scattered goods and assisted the man.

The old man was taken to a nearby hospital where he was found to have a fractured hip bone.

He recovered at the hospital and the supermarket reportedly paid his medical expenses.

In a statement, an official from the Kaohsiung Carrefour Wujia Store said this was the first time it happened and are investigating the incident.

He said: ‘This has never happened before. We have instructed our employees to be more careful next time. We are also investigating the case to improve and avoid similar things from happening in the future.’