This is the moment a runaway car ploughs into a group of people on a petrol station forecourt, scattering them like bowling pins.

A CCTV camera caught the incident as it unfolded in Sao Paulo, Brazil on 6th November.

The group was standing next to a parked car with its boot and bonnet open when another vehicle swerved onto the petrol station forecourt from the adjoining road.

The footage shows how it ploughed into three women at speed, tossing them into the air before they landed on the ground with a thud.

Meanwhile, a puppy that one of the trio had been carrying darted off into the road, prompting an uninjured member of the group to chase after it.

The pooch was later retrieved shaken but safe and sound, local media reported.

After hitting the women, as well as two stopped cars, the wayward vehicle crashed into a wall.

The footage shows how the driver tried to exit the vehicle but was quickly surrounded by angry staff and customers.

The injured women – one of whom sustained a compound leg fracture – were taken to different hospitals in the city.

Their names were withheld but their ages were given as 21, 52, and 54.

The motorist later told police he had lost control of his Ford Fiesta after being cut up by another road user near the entrance to the petrol station.

He denied being drunk behind the wheel, with a breathalyser test confirming that he was under the legal drink-drive limit.

His identity was also withheld.

The case has been registered as ‘negligent injury while driving a motor vehicle’.