A van rose in the air and flipped over, while another van and a car "levitated" at a busy traffic junction in northern China, shocking passers-by.

The CCTV footage of this freak accident in Xingtai, Hebei province had viewers doing a double take as the vehicles appeared to float off the ground.

It turned out that the vehicles were caught on a steel cable on the road.

The cable, meant for road maintenance, was laid on the road at the time, a report in China said on Nov 23.

Cars would normally drive over the cable with no incident, but the rotating brushes of a passing cleaner truck picked up the cable and snagged the three vehicles at the junction.

No serious injuries were reported, Chinese media said. The reports also noted that no sign was put up to warn drivers that road maintenance was ongoing.