This is the heart-stopping moment an old house collapses just as the police were evacuating it.

The incident occurred in Bhanpura in Madhya Pradesh on July 25.

The local police were tipped off that the top floor of a dilapidated building had developed huge cracks.

A team led by Inspector Gopal Singh Chauhan rushed to the spot and asked people to move out.

Just as they removed everyone from the building, it came tumbling down.

A local resident Tanveer Ahmed, 52, said: “There was hardly any time to evacuate.

"A shopkeeper wanted to move out his stock. But the police prevented him from going back and saved his life.

“This was a dilapidated building. Officials should have acted long ago and demolished it."

Fortunately, everyone had been moved out just in time and there were no casualties.