A 13-year-old was taken to hospital in a serious condition after allegedly being punched multiple times at Westfield Mall.

The attack happened at about 3.30pm Sunday.

A shopper told Chris Lynch she and her friend were walking out of the Amazon surf store when they saw a “lot of kids exchanging heated words in the mall.

One boy had a scarf over his face. To be honest they looked bloody evil, very scary, pumped up, really aggressive.”

The shopper said “we stood in the shop doorway, not really knowing what was going on. A retailer worker in the shop next door looked surprised too. The kids started walking further into the mall, and we wondered if we should call security as one boy looked really upset.

As we walked towards K-Mart, we saw a boy and his friend sitting on the seats next to the Mac shop looking pretty upset.

A security guard was talking to kids who had surrounded the boys. There was no physical fight, just verbal words.

One of the boys, sitting down, was crying with his head in his hands.

The security guard looked terrified and was standing back from them.

Most of the aggressive looking kids walked away, so my friend and I walked up to the boy, and sat with him trying to comfort him.

He said he was 13 and was hurt all over, but his friend was more concerned about getting them out of the mall. We told him he wasn’t going anywhere as he looked very unwell.

The boy said he was “beaten all over.”

The guard called the police, but didn’t know what had happened.

As a nurse, I was pretty concerned that the mall security guard didn’t try to ascertain if the boy was injured, considering he was suffering a massive headache, was feeling dizzy, and was struggling to breathe.”

The woman said the boy started to deteriorate pretty fast.

“Ambulance officers arrived and placed the boy on a stretcher. His friend wanted to go in the ambulance, so we said we’d meet them at the hospital to make sure they were ok.

My friend went through ED to check on the boy but was told to leave by rude police officers who said they’d take over.

We thought that was a bit off considering we’d spend a lot of time with the victims. Police said they’d call us back, but never did.”

A St John ambulance spokesman said they was alerted to the incident at 3.26pm, sending an ambulance.

“One person was taken to Christchurch Hospital in a serious condition.”

A police spokeswoman confirmed they attended an assault at Riccarton Mall.

“One person received medical treatment.

Enquiries into the circumstances of the incident are ongoing.”

Westfield Mall management have been approached for comment.