A van laden with 25 sheep plunged more than 50 metres off a bridge in Saudi Arabia but the animals escaped when they fell off the vehicle just before it went down.

The van was transporting the sheep when it hit another car on the bridge in the western Red Sea town of Jeddah, Okaz daily said.

“The van plunged down and was badly damaged…the sheep escaped unhurt after falling off the van just before it went down,” it said.