Locals in Pathakhera, Madhya Pradesh, surrounded a crashed diesel tanker to collect fuel leaking from the vehicle.

Footage from June 27 shows dozens gathered around the vehicle placing buckets and containers underneath streams of diesel.

Police were alerted and arrived at the scene to prevent any more diesel from being collected.

An excavator was then used to help the tanker get back onto the road.

A bizarre incident came to the fore in which the locals stole diesel from a fallen tanker instead of providing aid in central India's Madhya Pradesh on June 27. The incident took place near Pathakhera village in Betul district.

Visuals feature a huge crowd gathering near a diesel-laden tanker after it crashes on the roadside. Following this, people begin to place containers near the leakage to collect as much diesel as possible without wasting a second. Meanwhile, the others wait in the queue and behold the unusual occurrence.

The diesel tanker was heading from Gujarat to Chhattisgarh on the Indore National Highway when it accidentally got off the road while reversing near a local eatery and began to leak after bumping.

Within moments, a huge crowd gathered nearby to loot the diesel from the tanker, leading to a commotion. Fortunately, the cops reached the spot and evacuated the area before they could rob more. Following this, with the help of an excavator, they moved the vehicle on the road to help the driver commence with his journey.