Russian driver throws pedestrian into canal for 'touching his car'

Russian prosecutors on Friday opened an attempted murder probe after a businessman threw a pedestrian that touched his car into a canal in Saint Petersburg.

The pedestrian, who is reportedly handicapped, "accidentally touched the Audi of the 30-year-old businessman with his foot", prosecutors said in a statement.

The furious driver "got out of his car and punched him in the face before throwing him over the railings into the canal," the statement said.

The victim, 44, managed to clamber out of the water and was hospitalised. The driver was later detained and faces 11 years in jail.

Video footage of the incident recorded by a dashcam on a passing vehicle sparked a frenzy of criticism and was broadcast by Russian television.

Recent eye-catching road rage incidents in Russia captured on ubiquitous dashcams in the country have included an angry priest chasing a man in a provincial city after he blocked in his expensive sedan car.