Video of child on a bus trying to keep 'high' mother awake leads to police investigation

Passengers look on as the girl pleads 'mama' and the woman struggles to stay conscious

A still from a video uploaded to Facebook which shows what is believed to be a high mother and her daughter on a bus (Facebook/John Warren)

A video that shows a child on a bus attempting to help a nearly unconscious woman believed to be her mother, has led to an official police investigation in the US city of Philadelphia.

In the footage uploaded to Facebook, a girl who is reportedly seven years old says “mama, mama” as she tries to keep the woman upright and awake while other passengers ignore the situation.

The woman sways with her mouth open from what is alleged to be the effects of heroin, CSN Philly reported.

The four-and-a-half minute video which was filmed on a route 66 bus, has been viewed over 400,000 times and was flagged up to the police by members of the public.

“While it is helpful that so many people emailed and called us after viewing the video, there were many people on the bus who witnessed this as it was occurring and took no action at all,” said Anne Marie Ambrose of the Philadelphia Department of Human Services.

“Child abuse is a community problem, if you see or know that a child is being abused or neglected, you should report it immediately.”

Philadelphia Police Lieutenant John Stanford mirrored Ms Abrose's sentiments.

“We don't want people to engage because you don't know what's going on here,” Stanford said. “But we'd prefer you to call 911 or stop the operator of the vehicle.”

The woman has been identified by the police and taken in for questioning, but has not officially been charged. Police also have not confirmed whether the woman was under the influence of drugs or alcohol while she was on the bus.