This is the shocking moment an elderly Chinese woman carrying an umbrella slips backwards down an escalator.

The incident took place at the First Fresh Market in Changsha City, in Hunan Province, China, on June 25.

The footage shows the woman getting onto the escalator with her umbrella before losing her balance and tumbling down, continuing to fall as the escalator goes up.

Eventually, a man rushes to her aid and helps her to her feet as the footage ends.

Local media reported that the man who helped the elderly woman with the umbrella was a chef called Gong Xingxing.

He said: 'I should have stopped the escalator first, but the situation was too dangerous for the elderly woman.

'There was no time to think. If I had been a second slower, I would have deeply regretted it if something had happened to her.'

Gong said that after helping her, he found a chair for her to sit on.

He said that he gave her a quick checkup and luckily, she was not seriously injured.

The chef explained: 'It was raining, so she was holding an umbrella in one hand and making a phone call with the other.

'Being elderly, she suddenly lost her balance and didn't have time to grab the handrail, causing her to fall and roll down the escalator.'

'Being able to help someone out of a dangerous situation is something to be happy about.'