Story By:  Ana Marjanovic, Sub-Editor: Michael Leidig, Agency:  Newsflash

This is the moment a hearse driver speeds across a busy junction and a coffin shoots out of the back and onto the road.

The gruesome scene emerged from CCTV cameras in Pontalina, Goias state, Brazil, on 2nd June.

Astonished road users watched as the hearse driver slowed down as he approached the crossroads before suddenly accelerating when he sees a gap in the traffic.

But the bizarre footage shows that as he steps on the throttle, his tailgate flies up and the coffin slides out onto the tarmac.

The hearse driver apparently realises what has happened and starts to slow down as the vehicle disappears from the shot.

Meanwhile, a bemused man on a bicycle passes by the scene, looking one way at the fallen coffin and the other at the hearse driving off into the distance.

One witness told local media that the hearse driver returned to the intersection to fetch the fallen coffin.

Another local resident joked: “It’s always like this here in Pontalina. People even lose their coffins!”