A heart-stopping video from Phnom Penh, Cambodia, showcases a mother's incredible reflexes as she rescues her child from a collapsing ceiling. The incident, which occurred on July 3rd, unfolded in a shop where Pip Srey works and lives. Srey is seen with a baby in her arms and three other young children. A noise alerts them to the impending danger, prompting Srey and two of the children to flee. However, in a split-second decision, she bravely returns to retrieve a child in a baby walker, narrowly escaping the falling debris.

Srey recounted the terrifying experience, saying her instinct was to flee, but something compelled her to look back and see her child still in danger. Builders who later assessed the damage attributed the collapse to substandard construction and recent heavy rainfall. They pointed to a lack of waterproofing in the original design, which weakened the structure under the strain of the rain. The builders cautioned homeowners to be vigilant about construction quality to prevent similar incidents.

This incident occurred just days before another ceiling collapse in Springfield, Virginia, near Washington, D.C. In that instance, a family narrowly avoided injury when their dining room ceiling gave way. A crack had been noticed earlier in the day, and the family wisely filmed the ceiling as it deteriorated, capturing the collapse on video.