Sylvester Stallone spoke about the near-death moment at the film’s premiere in London, saying his co-star owed is life to his strong swimming ability after the brakes on the truck failed.

“He faced death,” the 68-year-old Hollywood heavyweight told The Mirror.

“He was test-driving a three-tonne truck and the brakes run out.

“It went down 60ft into the Black Sea and became impaled.”

Statham, 47, made his film debut in Guy Ritchie’s Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels in 1998. He has plenty of experience plunging into water having spent a decade on Britain’s National Diving Squad.

“Luckily we had taken the doors off before,” Stallone added.

“If anyone else had been in that truck we would have been dead because we were all wearing heavy boots and gun belts. We would have drowned, but because Jason is an Olympic-quality diver he got out of it.”

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