A freak waterspout tornado damaged homes before flipping over a boat, leaving two people missing and six injured in Thailand today.

The ferry was returning from taking passengers whale watching on the estuary of the the river in Phetchaburi province when the twister zipped towards them shortly before sunset on Saturday evening.

Footage shows the vortex hurling debris across the water as the captain desperately tried to steer away from the tornado.

However, the full force of the wind smashed into the wooden motorboat - dramatically capsizing it in front of shocked onlookers. Passengers scrambled to find the shore and six were pulled alive from the river.

Officials said that by 9:30pm local time and by now in darkness, two people were still missing.

Rescue teams are currently searching for them along the Phetchaburi in the Bang Tabun district of the region, around 70 miles from the capital Bangkok.

The Phetchaburi Provincial Incident and Command Center said they received an emergency report about an elephant trunk shaped waterspout tornado hitting a boat.

They said there were six passengers onboard and one captain.

A spokesman said: 'The boat was taking tourists out to see Bryde whales in the estuary near the sea when it was hit by the tornado. There were injuries with two missing people. Staff rushed to the area to check, along with rescue teams and paramedics.

‘The search is ongoing for the two missing people.'

Waterspout tornados are relatively common in tropical climates but it is incredibly rare for them to cause signifiant damage or injure people.

They are caused when wind merges from opposite directions near the water's surface, creating a small area of spin. Warm air at the surface causes the spinning air to rotate faster and it starts to rise – picking up water at the same time and forming the distinctive elephant-funnel shape.

As warm air rises, the cooler air moves in below and then rises, too. Sometimes the air spins so fast that it stretches and a funnel appears from the water to the thunderstorm cloud above.