This video shows a lucky woman narrowly avoiding being crushed to death by a runaway school bus.

The incident took place in the neighbourhood of Boa Vista in the town of Serra de Sao Bento in the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Norte at around 10 am on Thursday, 4th November.

Footage of the wayward vehicle speeding in reverse down the road dangerously was caught on CCTV.

According to local media including news portal G1, no one was in the school bus at the time of the incident.

The footage shows how the woman, whose identity was not reported, notices the large vehicle heading straight towards her.

She is seen taking shelter in the corner made by two walls, one of which the bus smashes into the edge of, missing her by mere inches.

The bus then comes to a halt after smashing into the next property along, destroying a large part of it. The lucky woman was then able to walk away unharmed.

According to the local authorities, the incident took place when the bus started to roll down the slope on which it was parked.

They said no one was in the residential property the vehicle crashed into and partially destroyed at the time.

Following the incident, the vehicle was removed from the site and the local authorities have since said they will pay for the repair of the damaged properties.

It is not known what caused the bus to start moving of its own accord, though it may have just been parked badly.