By Desmond Ng

She saw a train of trolleys snaking down towards her on the travellator.

Trapped, with nowhere to run, she was so scared she even wondered if she would see her two daughters again.

It happened when Mrs Cecilia Ng, 35, was shopping at Giant hypermarket in Tampines last Tuesday evening.

She was mid-way up on the travellator with her husband, Mr Terence Ng, when they suddenly saw more than 10 trolleys rolling towards them. It happened after some miscommunication between trolley collectors.

She said: 'People started to scream and shout. We tried to move out of the way but we were blocked by people behind us.'

Other shoppers managed to avoid the trolleys but the Ngs were not so lucky.

Amid the commotion, Mrs Ng saw an 89-year-old woman with a walking stick behind her. She grabbed hold of the first trolley in a bid to save the old woman.

But the trolleys were too heavy for her and knocked down the old woman.

Said Mrs Ng: 'I was so worried for her. Luckily, she didn't hit her head but her finger was cut and bleeding.'

Luckily, the trolleys stopped moving when the travellator was stopped. The ordeal lasted under one minute, she said.

The couple, who are in the publishing business, have two daughters aged 5 and 2.

She claimed no one came to help them until her husband went to look for the hypermarket's manager.

But Giant said its staff gave immediate assistance to the victims.

Mrs Ng had bruises and abrasions on her leg. She said the accident also triggered a relapse of her back problem from an old injury. Her husband suffered abrasions on his shoulders and back.

The couple and other victims were taken to hospital for treatment. A Giant staff member went to their Pasir Ris flat the next day to apologise and to find out more about the accident, they said. Mrs Ng said she couldn't sleep for three nights after the accident, which kept playing back in her mind.

Mrs Ng, who shops at Giant every week, said: 'I have a phobia of that place now and I don't think I will go back any time soon. And even we do, we'll be taking the lift.'

Mr Ng questioned the safety procedures in handling trolleys. 'Should these trolleys be sharing the same travellator with shoppers?'

Retiree Richard Chew, 63, said his family were also reluctant to visit the hypermarket after his 89-year-old mother, wife, grandson and maid suffered minor injuries.

'I am grateful they were not seriously injured,' he said.

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