Dramatic moment lorry teeters on the edge of a 65ft-high motorway bridge after its driver skids on wet surface and smashes through barriers in China

  • Driver skidded on slip road on Zunyi-Chishui Expressway in Guizhou Province, outhern China 
  • Co-driver had to be rescued by the fire service but driver climbed out of cab 
  • Lucky pair avoided a fire because lorry's fuel tank broke off during crash 

By HARRY HOWARD

Published: | Updated:

This is the dramatic scene of a lorry teetering on the edge of a China motorway bridge above a 65-foot drop, with its stricken co-driver still trapped inside. 

The lorry's driver skidded on a wet slip road on the Zunyi-Chishui Expressway in southern China's Guizhou Province, before slamming through crash barriers. 

The footage shows most of the cab hanging at an angle off the bridge. 

This is the dramatic moment a lorry teeters on the edge of a 65ft-high motorway bridge, in Southern China's Guizhou Province after its driver skidded on a wet slip road before smashing through crash barriers
The emergency services found the driver already out of his cab when they arrived, but they had to rescue the co-driver, who was still trapped inside

This is the dramatic moment a lorry teeters on the edge of a 65ft-high motorway bridge, in Southern China's Guizhou Province after its driver skidded on a wet slip road before smashing through crash barriers

The cab and its trapped passenger are only prevented from falling into the grassy undergrowth by the attached heavy cargo.

As well as avoiding probable death, the driver of the lorry was able to climb out of the cab, with the emergency services arriving soon after. 

But the less fortunate co-driver had to be rescued by the fire service. 

The jack-knifed lorry cab was only saved from dropping into the grassy undergrowth below by its heavy cargo, but its trapped co-driver had to be rescued by the fire service

The jack-knifed lorry cab was only saved from dropping into the grassy undergrowth below by its heavy cargo, but its trapped co-driver had to be rescued by the fire service

After showing the precarious cab, the camera pans downwards to show the dramatic drop and hard landing below. 

Near to where the lorry would have landed had it fallen are a collection of houses, with their owners no doubt amazed by the spectacle. 

A huddle of rescuers in orange and yellow jackets also stand next to the vehicle, with a single police car parked in front of them. 

Police later said that the lorry's fuel tank had broken off during the crash, suggesting that the driver and his colleague only avoided a fire by a further stroke of luck. 

Neither of the pair were seriously injured in the crash, with the driver - surname Jiang - recalling: 'When we crashed, I thought we were definitely going to fall [off the motorway].' 

The driver of the cab, Jiang, said: 'When we crashed, I thought we were definitely going to fall [off the motorway]'

The driver of the cab, Jiang, said: 'When we crashed, I thought we were definitely going to fall [off the motorway]'

 

China

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