Pictures: Impala leaps into tourists' car at Kruger National Park

An impala was filmed sensationally escaping two cheetahs by leaping into a car full of tourists at Kruger National Park in South Africa. SCROLL DOWN FOR PICTURES AND VIDEO

Stunned tourists on safari watched as the terrified animal looked a second away from death when an unexpected window of opportunity appeared.

Samantha Pittendrigh, 20, filmed the impala leaping through a passenger window on her mobile phone.

"We started freaking out going crazy. We couldn't believe it - we were absolutely dumbstruck," she said.

"We had absolutely no idea what was going on.

"We watched the cheetah chasing the impala. We saw a few of them turn around in the bushes towards the road they were running from."

She added: "My family are so jealous. In all the years my parents have been going to Kruger Park they have never seen anything like it and we do go regularly.

"It really is a once-in-a-lifetime thing and we managed to be in the right place at the right time.

"I was very happy to witness something like that but I felt a sorry for the cheetah.

"There are so many impala, it is not like they will miss one of them."

But the world's fastest land-animal was not completely cheated, as one of them managed to make a kill just 20 metres along the road, according to Miss Pittendrigh.

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