A female passenger lost part of her left leg when it was swallowed by a moving travelator at an airport in Thailand this morning.

The unnamed tourist was travelling on a domestic flight from Bangkok's Don Mueang International Airport to Nakhon Si Thammarat province when she became tangled in a pink suitcase on the device at around 8:30 am.

She had already checked and was walking to the gate when she fell over and her leg was wedged into the conveyor belt, with the mechanism ripping through muscle, tendon, and bone.

Passengers fumbled to turn off the emergency switch as the machine continued tearing through her flesh - spewing blood onto the metal tracks.

Medics eventually took her to the Bhumibol Adulyadej Hospital in the capital for emergency treatment.

Local media reported that the woman had 'lost her leg' while the airport claimed that doctors are understood to be battling to save the limb in order to avoid having it amputated.

Airport authorities have ordered a probe to determine the cause of the accident. In the meantime, the travelator automatic walkway has been temporarily closed as an engineering team conducts an inspection and security checks.

In a statement, the Don Mueang Airport said: 'The director of Don Mueang Airport and management has visited the patient to follow up on the treatment and received information from the medical team at Bhumibol Hospital that she is currently in the process of receiving treatment from the medical team.

'Don Mueang Airport is deeply saddened by the incident and ready to fully accept the responsibility as well as take care of the medical expenses and compensation.'

The airport further said no flights were delayed due to the accident.

Don Mueang International Airport (DMK) serving Bangkok opened in 1914 but was replaced by the new Suvarnabhumi International Airport (BKK) on the outskirts of the city in 2014.