When bus driver Li Li got caught in a traffic jam under a viaduct in Zhuzhou city, Hunan province, he advised the 10 passengers onboard to get off and walk.

An elderly couple were reluctant to leave their seats, but Li suggested they walk along a bridge and promised to pick them up when traffic resumed.

Li, 30, ended up saving his passengers' lives, when a 200-m section of the viaduct collapsed moments later on Sunday afternoon.