This is the nerve-wracking moment stricken residents rode in the bucket of an excavator to cross a raging river following heavy rain in the Philippines.

Locals were stranded when muddy torrents surged down mountains and washed away a bridge, cutting off their village in Cotabato province on September 18.

In a harrowing display of determination and resourcefulness, a digger used for a local construction carried locals to the other side of the swollen stream as the turbulent waters raged beneath them. Motorcycles and other vehicles sat idle on the riverbank, unable to navigate the formidable waters.

The Philippines and neighbouring countries in Southeast Asia are in their annual monsoon rainy season which sees soaring temperatures followed by powerful rain storms in the afternoon leading to widespread flash floods.