This is the heartbreaking moment an unlucky cobra narrowly avoided being run over by a truck - only to be beaten to death seconds later by cruel locals.

The snake appeared to be lost while trying to cross a busy road in South Kalimantan province, Indonesia on September 9.

It was just inches from being squashed by an oncoming lorry but leapt out of the way and slithered to safety on the roadside.

However, several onlookers then surrounded the snake and battered it with a broom.

Budi Hartani, who lives nearby, said: "The snake was in the courtyard in front of the hospital but it saw the people and was scared. It tried to flee by crossing the road but then turned back because of the cars.''

The cobra survived the huge trucks that almost ran it over, but it died a few minutes later after the men hit it with the broom.

Local government officials collected the dead venomous snake and buried it in a field nearby.

The men who killed the animal were not questioned because "the snake posed a threat to their safety''.

Killing wild animals is illegal in the country but it is considered self-defence if it proved harmful to people.

Cobras - one of the deadliest snakes in the world - kill tens of thousands of people each year across India and Southeast Asia.