Terrifying footage has emerged of the moment a woman was stabbed inside a shopping centre in Melbourne‘s southeast.

CCTV shows the 25-year-old on an escalator inside the M-City Shopping Centre in Clayton on Thursday morning when a young male comes up from behind and stabs her in the back.

The male is then seen running back down the escalator while the woman turns around to look at her attacker.

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A passerby stops and helps the woman, who was on her way to work at the time, before calling triple-0.

She was taken to hospital in a serious but stable condition.

Her alleged attacker fled the area.

A 16-year-old boy was arrested not long after at a medical centre in Clayton.

He was charged with intentionally causing injury, recklessly causing injury, assault with a weapon, possessing a controlled weapon, theft and committing an indictable offence while on bail.

He was remanded to appear at a children’s court at a later date.

The woman was stabbed inside the M-City Shopping Centre in Clayton. Credit: 7NEWS

Police at the shopping centre on Thursday. Credit: 7NEWS