A toddler miraculously survived a terrifying 30ft fall from the third floor of a shopping mall in the Philippines.

Nina, aged three, was playing near an escalator at the C3 Mall in Zamboanga del Sur province when she grabbed hold of the moving handrail on March 10.

However, she immediately lost her grip and plunged to the ground floor, smashing through a glass perfume stall.

Horrified shoppers screamed as the youngster crashed onto the display case, shattering the glass.

A heavily pregnant seller, Retchel Aragon, rushed to the scene and scooped the injured girl up in her arms. Footage shows the adrenalin-fuelled woman cradling Nina's limp body out of the mall to be rushed to a hospital.

She said: 'Someone screamed that a child had fallen. I ran toward her in case she could still be saved. I ignored how tired I was. I just wanted to get her to the hospital.

'While I was carrying her, I kept telling her, 'Baby, don't close your eyes. Just stay awake.' I kept looking at her eyes.'

Nina was taken to a nearby hospital for minor injuries. Doctors said the piles of soap boxes on the perfume stall had broken her fall.

Debbylene Tan-Ildefonso, the city health officer, said: 'She had a wound on the left side of her face. She had no major abrasions. After a series of CT and X-ray scans, all of her results returned normal.

'The mother was also there, and she was in shock. We will be co-ordinating with the City Social Welfare and Development Office for her counselling.'

Nina's distraught mother, Sweet, said she had been shopping for laptops for her children's schoolwork when the nightmare fall occurred. She claimed Nina had wandered away from her while she was speaking with the staff about payment options.

She said: 'We had just arrived at the store on the upper floor. She kept letting go of my hand because she was so stubborn and wanted to play. I didn't think she would fall from an escalator. Dear God! I was alarmed because suddenly, there were people outside shouting and panicking.

'Please don't judge me. No mother would want this to happen. My husband is already furious at me.'

Speaking from her hospital bed, Nina said she was only suffering a mild headache after the fall.

Following the incident, mall staff said barriers will be placed around the escalator handrails for safety.