Two-year-old boy narrowly avoids being crushed by falling palm tree

This is the miraculous moment a two-year-old boy came within inches of being crushed to death by a falling palm tree.

Tong Gosungnern had been playing with friends on the road outside his parents' home in Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand, at around 4.45pm on Saturday.

Heart-stopping CCTV captured the terrifying moment a 30ft high palm tree came loose at its base, crashing towards the children below.

As the youngsters see the tree, they scatter across the road. But curious Tong looks up in awe at the falling tree, rooted to the spot.

Incredibly, the tree misses his head by a whisker as he stands transfixed, the palm tree hitting the road and bouncing at his side.

His mother, Jane, can be seen rushing in and scooping him up in her arms after colliding with another fleeing woman.

"This was an old palm tree, so big. Nobody knew it would fall down," Jane revealed.

"The moment I looked over and saw Tong with the tree coming down towards him, my heart stopped.

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"I just ran over and picked him up. We are so lucky that it did not hit him. The tree is so heavy, if it landed on him I don't know what would have happened."

Emergency services arrived on the scene to help with the cleanup, while neighbours have since checked the surrounding trees to make sure they are not at risk of falling.

Tong escaped unhurt and was oblivious to the near miss, casually going about the rest of the evening playing with friends.