A horrific video has emerged of a grandmother being killed by a runaway supermarket trolley.

The accident, which was caught on CCTV, happened on Friday morning at Lianhua supermarket in Shanghai.

The 60-year-old, who was shopping alone, died from horrific injuries after being hit by the metal trolley at the Chinese store.

In the video, the woman, wearing pink, is seen pushing her trolley down a flat escalator.

She reaches the bottom and calmly pushes it off before walking ahead.

The overloaded trolley smashes into the shopper, throwing her against a pillar six to seven metres away.

A few seconds later, two panicked men can be seen running down the escalator to help the woman, followed closely by another bystander.

A crowd amasses around the fatally injured woman, with people picking off debris as they try to reach her.

She was taken to a nearby hospital, but succumbed to her horrific injuries.

According to a report on Stomp and QQ two men had loaded a trolley of their own with 15 crates of drinks, instead of using a supermarket trolley - store trolleys are adapted to lock onto the ridges on the escalator.

Police are currently investigating the incident.