A lorry driver has said he feels like he has been “reborn” after being involved in a pileup that left him dangling over the edge of an overpass in his cab before being rescued by an off-duty fireman.

Lorry driver Mateus Cavalcante said: “I was kept safe by my seatbelt. God was with me. I was reborn.”

The accident took place in the municipality of Cachoeira Paulista in the Brazilian state of Sao Paulo on the morning of 2nd December.

The Federal Highway Police (PRF) said the accident took place when a water tanker shed its load on the road, leading to three heavy goods vehicles being involved in a pileup, including Cavalcante’s lorry.

The lorry driver said he tried to avoid one of the vehicles and crashed through the bridge barrier, leaving his cab dangling by cables about eight metres (26 feet) from the ground.

He said he thought he was going to plummet to the ground but suddenly felt a jolt in midair and realised the cab was still attached to the trailer by cables.

Fortunately for the lorry driver, an off-duty firefighter was passing by at the time who helped to rescue him.

Cavalcante, a lorry driver for over 30 years who was transporting boxes of soap at the time, said he left Rio de Janeiro for Mato Grosso when the accident took place, and that he had never experienced anything like this before.

He told local media: “It was a horrible feeling. I was hanging by my seatbelt. My biggest fear was that the trailer would fall on me.”

The water tank driver reportedly fled the scene after the pileup and the police investigation into the incident is ongoing.