Moment bridge collapses and plunges into river as man narrowly avoids falling in captured in dramatic footage

Dramatic video footage shows the moment a motorway bridge collapsed and plunged into a river, with a man near to the edge narrowly avoiding falling in.

In the nearly minute-long video, recorded on April 30, a large gap between the bridge and the road is seen widening, before the bridge rapidly breaks away from the road. Onlookers can be heard screaming as the bridge falls on the other side and high flood waters begin to pour over it. Around 10 seconds later, the bridge falls further into the river and becomes almost completely submerged in the water.

On one side of the bridge, in Santa Maria, southern Brazil, cars can be seen parked on grass banks as people stand watching the river. A man, who is standing next to the edge of the bridge, narrowly avoids falling into the river as he manages to run back just in time before the bridge collapses completely.

Heavy rain has caused extreme flooding in Rio Grande do Sul. Local officials say the floods have killed 39 people and 68 people are still missing.