A 12-month-old baby was thrown from his mother’s arms as she walked past a sizeable lorry tire that suddenly exploded. Distressing surveillance camera footage from the incident that occurred in the Danjiangkou in central China shows that the child was hit midair by the flying tire as it was blasted from its mother’s arm.

In the video, workers can be seen inflating a tire with air and leaving the tire with the air hose still attached. As the workers walk away, a mother and her son wander past the inflating tire when the tire suddenly explodes and strikes the mother, sending her child flying from her arms.

The mother, who has since been identified as Mrs Wang, collapses on the ground and the airborne tire hits her child and throws him out of the view of the camera. As thick smoke fills the air, the workers rush to the victims’ aid and carry them indoors:

 

According to local authorities, both Mrs Wang and her child survived the ordeal with minor scratches.

Meanwhile, the police have identified that the sudden explosion was caused since one of the workers left the pump valve, leading to excessive tyre pressure that caused the explosion. It remains unclear whether anyone was arrested or charged over the accident.