Terrified shoppers fled in panic yesterday when an escalator chewed up someone's shoe just weeks after the airport travelator bloodbath in Thailand.

Footage shows the rubber flip-flop jammed in the sharp teeth of the walkway at the Central Westgate mall in Nonthaburi on the outskirts of the capital Bangkok on Sunday, July 16.

Fear-stricken locals stayed away from the device amid a 'chilling effect' following the horror incident in which a passenger's left leg was amputated by the automatic walkway at the Don Mueang International Airport on June 29.

Shopping mall managers blamed a clumsy local for failing to step off the escalator before it reached the end.

They said in a statement: 'Upon investigation, it was found that the cause was the customer's failure to step off in time when the sliding stairs ended, causing the shoe to get caught in the last step of the escalator.

'A mall employee who witnessed the incident immediately pressed the stop button of the sliding stairs, preventing any injuries.'

The worrying incident comes just weeks after a female passenger, 57, needed her left leg amputating when a travelator surface plate collapsed and her limb was hacked apart by the machinery.

Medics had to amputate her leg at the scene to free her and she was rushed to hospital.