This is the moment a young girl twists the throttle on a scooter she is standing on with her dad and older sister, sending the family-of-three surging off the pavement and into the river below.

The incident took place in the city of Nanning in the southern Chinese region of Guangxi on 12th September.

According to the news site Baidu, the father stopped by the riverbank with his two daughters to watch the local fishermen bring in the day’s catch when the incident took place.

The man’s youngest daughter, apparently no older than three years old, was standing on the scooter floorboard when she twisted the throttle on the handlebars and sent all three flying into the river.

Several passersby helped the family out of the shallow water, and no one was injured in the incident.

In the footage, the father is seen sitting on his scooter while using his phone. Meanwhile, his older daughter is seated behind him while his youngest daughter stands on the floorboard, messing about with the handlebars.

Just as the man apparently finishes a call and his older daughter looks at something in the distance, the tot twists the throttle and the scooter surges forwards and is knocked off the kickstand.

The scooter then drops over the edge of the pavement and into the river.

A nearby man gets off his scooter to help while another onlooker runs over to lend a hand.

The father is seen cradling both daughters in the shallow water and he hands them to the two helpers who lift the sopping wet tots onto dry land.