A woman was heard letting out a blood-curdling scream as a fearsome bear sprinted after the dinghy she was on.

She and other day trippers were boating down a river in Russia’s far-eastern Kamchatka Peninsula when the alarming close call took place.

Mobile phone footage shows how the huge mother bear bursts out of a tree line in front of her two cubs and darts towards the inflatable motorboat.

The menacing bruin is seen sprinting alongside the flimsy vessel just a stone’s throw away as a terrified woman lets out a hair-raising scream.

Several yards later, the formidable beast appears to give up the chase as those on board the dinghy breathe a sigh of relief.

Had the motorboat’s top speed been any slower, the bear would have easily caught up with the vessel and flipped it with its powerful limbs.

The day trippers would have been no match for the muscular mammal, which would have torn them to shreds in the ice-cold water.

Local wildlife officials say the region, widely known for its active volcanoes, is home to some 24,500 bears.

Human encounters with the large animals are said to be regular and often end badly for the people involved.