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Baby falls to death from escalator as parents take selfie

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A 10-month old baby was caught on video falling to her death at a shopping mall in India on Thursday, after she slipped out of her mother's arms while on an escalator.

The incident happened while the parents were taking a selfie, media reports said.

They visited the shopping mall in Ganganagar district in the north-western state of Rajasthan, after taking their baby girl to a nearby clinic for a check-up, Daily Mail UK reported.

Closed-circuit television footage of the incident, which happened around noon, first show the couple taking a selfie on a walkway next to an escalator.

In the video, the mother, dressed in orange, can be seen carrying her daughter.

The couple then walk off, before appearing again on camera to take the escalator to the floor above.

Witnesses said that the husband had asked his wife for a selfie while on the escalator, which caused her to lose her balance and drop the baby, who fell three storeys.

The baby had first hit the railing before falling through a gap.

CCTV footage show the horrified parents leaning over the railing to look for their daughter.

The girl died instantly after hitting the ground.

In a statement to The Sun, police said: "This is a clear-cut case of an accident." Police added that the couple will not take any legal action.

A study has found that India has the highest number of selfie-linked deaths in the world. It found that of the 127 reported selfie deaths worldwide from March 2014 to September 2016, 60 per cent - or 76 - occurred in India.

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