Cambodian shopkeeper rushes to save toddler trapped in baby walker
A dramatic video captured a mother in Cambodia saving her child just seconds before her home’s ceiling collapsed.
The incident happened in the capital city of Phnom Penh on July 3 after shopkeeper Pip Srey – who operates a business out of the same building – finished up work for the day, according to Viral Press.
The video begins with Srey holding a baby and standing alongside three young children in a room. A sound is heard and Srey and two of the children start running away while screaming.
Srey – still clutching the baby – then runs back and pulls a child who was left behind in a baby walker to safety.
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Pip Srey is seen racing to pull her child to safety before the ceiling collapsed in her home in Phnom Penh, Cambodia on July 3. (Viral Press)
The ceiling that was above her and the children then came crashing to the ground.
"He would have died if the roof fell on him. It was just my instinct to run away when I saw the roof falling down," Srey was quoted by Viral Press as saying. "Something made me look back, and I saw him there, so I just ran over and grabbed him."
The news agency said builders who later repaired the building blamed the ceiling collapse on poor construction and recent heavy rains that weakened the structure.
"There was no water-proofing in the original plans for the house. All of the rain has made the ceiling weaker. It is because of poor construction," one of the builders told Viral Press.
"People should be aware of this when they buy homes, as one day it could fall down, just like what happened here," that builder added.
The collapse happened just days before a family in Virginia watched as their dining room ceiling fell in front of them.
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The ceiling then collapses just seconds after the child is removed from the area. (Viral Press)
That incident happened last Friday at the home of Micah Porter in Springfield, Virginia, just outside of Washington, D.C.
"What are we thinking?" a woman is heard saying as the ceiling starts giving way.
"Oh, oh, oh, oh my!" family members shouted as a ceiling panel crashed to the ground.
Electrical wires from a recessed lighting fixture can be seen swaying around before a second panel tumbles to the floor.
"Did you get it on video?" the woman asked.
The aftermath of the home ceiling collapse in Cambodia on July 3. (Viral Press)
"Yeah, duh," a teenager responded.
Porter told Storyful that his son noticed a crack in the ceiling that morning, which had grown by the afternoon.
"My son set his phone in case the ceiling fell, and it did," he said.
Greg Norman is a reporter at Fox News Digital.
