This is the heart-stopping moment a driver tried to clear rocks from the road - seconds before he was almost buried alive by a mountain landslide.

The young father, Li, was travelling alone when he noticed the debris blocking the rural trail leading to the village of Cuiluan in Nantou County, Taiwan on May 16.

Li pitched his smartphone on his vehicle's dashboard while he went to move the obstruction blocking the road.

However, when he was about to pick up the items he heard rumbling from the hillside.

Footage shows how Li paused as he looked up to see what it was - before realising several tonnes of mud and rocks were tumbling down the mountainside towards him.

The quick-thinking young father-of-one raced back to his car and jumped inside, just seconds away from being crushed by the landslide.

He then reversed as fast as he could while slamming his horn to signal the other drivers to back up.

Relieved Li, who was unharmed following the incident, said: ‘I was just going to remove the fallen rocks but I looked up and saw that stones were sliding down. As soon as I realised what was happening I raced back to my car to save myself. My heart was pounding afterwards. I was very close to being hit by the landslide.'

The collapse on the route is believed to have been caused by heavy rainfall in the remote area.