To suggest that potholes on city streets throughout China are a problem would be something of an understatement; however, we’ve yet to encounter a pothole as formidable as the one that flipped over a car in Beijing yesterday.

An unidentified woman was driving on Jiuxian Bridge Road in Beijing’s Chaoyang District last night when she drove over a manhole cover. The manhole collapsed, causing an opening in the road that flipped over the woman’s BMW. The woman had to be pulled out of the passenger-side window by a couple of helpful bystanders.

As the photograph shows, the car somehow dislodged both the manhole cover and the steel frame holding it in place. According to a report in the Lawcourt Evening News, there were no warning signs or traffic cones to indicate any possible danger and the section of the road was poorly lit.

No injuries were reported, but the female driver was sent to hospital as a precautionary measure.