Flash floods hit a football match in Indonesia, stopping play as players and spectators had to evacuate the field to escape to safety.

Video filmed last Tuesday (November 20) at 5:30pm on the 'Gelora Puabu' football field at Sicincin Padangpariaman, West Sumatra province, shows the river around the soccer field suddenly overflowing and inundating the field.

The field was evacuated as both players competing on the field and spectators ran away as it became apparent a flash flood was coming.

This was very prescient of the soccer fans, as video footage also shows how the floods washed away plastic chairs and abandoned scooters. In just a few minutes, the field was completely submerged with water levels reaching up to 60 centimetres.

A local official named Nurkhalis told the media, that residents around the field had been evacuated to safety, while the floodwaters receded early on Wednesday morning.

According to Nurkhalis, this is the first time this has occurred here. The flooding was allegedly due to heavy rain upstream from a nearby river, as it was not raining during the soccer match when it happened.

The field was previously hosting a match between Sijunjung vs Tanah Datar in the Provincial Sports Week (Porprov) West Sumatra XV tournament.

Afrizal, a referee, said the match on the second round with score 2-2 stopped by referee. Several other matches including the following semi-final match were forced to be moved.