This is the moment a couple seated by the road leaps out of the way at the last second as a lorry overturns and sends the load it was carrying sweeping towards them like a tsunami of sand.

The incident took place in the city of Dali, which is located in south-western China’s Yunnan province, on Saturday 20th November, at about 5 PM.

The footage shows two people sitting outside a house by the main road as vehicles drive by.

A first lorry drives by, followed shortly by a second lorry, which overturns after the driver, who has not been named, appears to have taken a bend too fast.

The large vehicle appears to have been going at considerable speed as it turns over and continues to slide along the road as its load of sand spills in what local media described as a “sand tsunami”.

The lorry slides past the house and out of shot as the sand tsunami heads towards the two people, who have not been named, sitting outside the house.

They see the sand coming and leap out of the way and into the house to safety at the last second.

The force of the impact is enough to slightly move a concrete mixer lorry and an SUV as the footage ends.

None of the locals were injured in the incident, according to local media reports.

It is currently unclear if the driver was injured and if the authorities are investigating the incident.