An excavator operator doing reclamation work was almost killed after a barge carrying the machine overturned on top of him off the Gurney Drive seafront in Penang, Malaysia.
Waves rose as high as 3.5m (12 ft) and the tide swelled from a low of 0.63m to 2.53m yesterday.
In just eight seconds, the barge carrying an excavator about 250m from the Gurney Drive coastline keeled over, plunging the machine and its operator into the sea.
A 70-second video shows the barge heaving dangerously in the waves as the unidentified operator attempted to use the excavator arm to steady his machine.
But the waves continued tilting the barge until its sea-facing side arched skyward, barely leaving the operator time to scramble out of the cab as the barge flipped over. Miraculously, he only suffered minor bruises, according to a statement from developer Eastern and Oriental Berhad, in charge of the reclamation.
It said the contractors has begun salvaging the equipment.
