Terrifying moment hiker slips & falls down steep mountain as 360-degree camera captures miracle escape

THIS is the dramatic moment a hiker slips and falls down a steep mountain while recording his near-death ordeal.

Yang Meng, 42, is lucky to be alive after he slipped and fell while hiking in the Fanzengjian Mountains in China.

The hiker captured the moment he skidded down the mountain side on his 360-degree camera.

The heart-stopping footage shows Meng screaming as he plummets down the side of the mountain while he tries to find something to hold on to.

His descent was stopped by a tree, saving his life.

Prior to his fall, he and friend were hiking through the Anhui province about 280 miles west of Shanghai, after it had been pounded by rain by two powerful typhoons, Bebinca and Yagi.

Speaking to CNN, Meng said: “I realised I couldn’t get up at all and was sliding faster and faster, that’s when it hit me – I must be falling off a cliff.

“When I hit the tree, it felt like a heavy rock crashing down.

“I was just thinking, ‘There’s no way I’m dead’.”

In an other video posted to the social media site, Meng said he had not been badly injured in the fall – revealing some bruising on his leg.

He told CNN: “I guess I came out mostly unscathed. Just a little scrape on my left hand and a small cut on my thigh.

“Other than that, I was fine.”

The near-death experienced forced Meng to reflect on his life.

He said: “Life is really short, so we need to cherish every day.

“I won’t let this incident hold me back.

“If anything, it’s pushing me to explore the world even more.”

The video was posted on Douyin, China’s version of TikTok, and has been liked by more than 280,000 users and shared more than 445,000 times.

Shocked users took to the comments to express just how lucky the hiker was to be alive, while others were thankful that the tree was in line to save him.

Earlier this year, a Chinese tourist plunged to her death after falling 250ft into an active volcano.

The victim, 31-year-old Chinese national Huang Lihong, tumbled into the Ijen Crater in Banyuwangi, Indonesia, as her horrified husband took a picture.

She stumbled and fell on April 20 after catching her clothing on the rock face and disappeared down the crater, it is understood.

She and her husband Zhang Yong had climbed the slope with a local guide so they could watch the sunrise from the volcano’s rim, local media reports.

But as Lihong posed for the snaps she tripped and ended up tumbling backwards over the edge.

One photo released after the fall shows Lihong posing on what appears to be the rim of the volcano with one leg raised and whisps of steam and sulphur gas rising behind her.

She fell 75 metres (250 feet) into the mouth of the volcano and it took rescuers more than two hours to retrieve her body, according to local reports.