Overturning Lorry
The 19-ton lorry rolls over whilst trying to turn at a busy intersection in Linhai, Zhejiang Province. (Reuters)

A motorcyclist narrowly escaped death after a lorry overturned just inches in front of him on a busy intersection in Linhai, Zhejiang Province.

In dramatic CCTV footage caught at the Xushi Village section of the No.318 national highway, the lorry rolls over whilst trying to turn left, offloading the 19-ton container into the path of the cyclist waiting at the traffic lights. The container crushes the front of the bike but narrowly misses the cyclist himself.

Remarkably no one was injured or killed in the incident. The truck driver, named Zhu, was heading to the Eastern Chinese city of Ningbo, and said to China Central Television afterwards that that he was lucky to be alive.

"I was driving the lorry downhill, at a speed of about 10 kilometres per hour. As the road winds here, the container tilted toward the right tires, and then the container turned over, followed by the lorry head," he said.

"When I saw the lorry turning over, I hid myself beside the seat. I was lucky, and nothing happened to me," he added.