Story By: John Feng, Sub Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Asia Wire Report

Video Credit: AsiaWire

A man who joined a crowd of spectators to watch an empty people carrier sink into a river, as shown in this footage, later realised he was watching his own motor go under.

The motorist surnamed Zhou had parked on a sloped road in the county of Longzhou, which is in Chongzuo City in China’s southern Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, and left it there without putting on the handbrake.

Traffic camera footage from Xinglong Road shows Zhou’s people carrier slowly rolling downhill through a junction and then sliding down a set of stone steps leading to a jetty.

Pictures Credit: AsiaWire

Footage taken by witnesses then shows the white car floating in the Li River before slowly sinking beneath the surface.

Authorities say they had just arrived to deal with the aftermath of the incident when Zhou came up to them identifying himself as the owner.

Policeman Lei Jinhua said: “The owner said he parked it and they went to eat. They came back and heard people saying a car had rolled into the river.

“In their excitement, they went to join the crowd of onlookers and only then turned around and realised their car was missing.”

The people carrier was later hoisted out of the river and brought back onto land.

It is unclear whether the vehicle is still driveable.