This is the dramatic moment a road opened up in front of shocked drivers in Indonesia.

A section of the highway collapsed without warning as road workers were digging a small drainage ditch to relieve flooding on December 3.

Shocking footage shows chunks of asphalt breaking off and tumbling into the sinkhole as stunned motorists watched just metres away from the crumbling edge.

The foundation sloughed off in waves, sending large slabs of tarmac into the widening chasm.

Locals looked on nervously before turning round and running away to avoid being dragged into the gaping abyss.

Shocked onlooker Arie Azhari, who recorded the video, said: 'It is a miracle that nobody was injured. The road was cracked and then it collapsed. Nobody knew what was happening at first. I was in shock.

'Then everybody started to back away so they did not fall into the hole.'

Local media reported that the area had been battered by recent heavy flooding and landslides caused by monsoon rains since November 27.

Bungling officials had tried to create an emergency drainage ditch before the road, the Pacuan Kuda highway in Aceh, suddenly collapsed.

Several villages in the area were cut off, with the road being their only way out to nearby towns. A number of bridges in the region have also been damaged by the recent floods.