A four-year-old Turkish boy who fell from an escalator has narrowly avoided injury after being caught by a quick-thinking shopkeeper.

Security camera footage taken at an Istanbul shopping centre shows the young boy climbing onto the outside of the escalator rail and riding it to the next level.

When he reached the top the boy, named Ali, appeared to be unable to climb off, leaving him dangling about 6m above the ground.

Ali Apari, a quick-thinking shopkeeper, who noticed the child dangling about 2.5 meters (8 feet) high and about to fall, managed to catch him before he hit the ground.

"I noticed the child playing near the escalators, there was nothing dangerous at that time. I turned back to the store and I was told that he was climbing onto the outside of the escalator rail. So I ran outside and saw that he was about to fall down. I have health problems but despite that I did my best to catch him when he fell off and I managed to do so."

The boy, who was unscathed by his ordeal, left the mall with his father.