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

Video Credit: AsiaWire

This is the moment a hapless van driver who forgets to put on the handbrake is helpless to stop his car from sliding off a ferry and plunging into a river.

The van owner, who has not been named, was standing several dozen feet from his vehicle when it began sliding off the deck, video from Zhaoqing City in China’s southern Guangdong Province shows.

He had parked it at the back of the vessel which travels between the Guangli ferry terminal and the nearby island of Yanzhou.

Picture Credits: AsiaWire

However, having forgotten to put on his handbrake, the van began rolling forwards as the ferry started its journey.

The owner can be seen sprinting towards his van as it nears the edge of the vessel, grabbing a handle and yanking the driver’s side door open.

However, it is too little, too late for the hapless owner, who then watches dejectedly as the entire van plunges into the murky waters of the Xi River.

Footage taken by witnesses shows the driver still standing on the deck of the ferry as he watches his van sink into the water.

It was later fully submerged and had to be salvaged by a dive team.

Fortunately, staff at the Guangli ferry station said no one was injured during the accident, with the van having not been occupied at the time.