Pattinson 'almost crushed by elephant'

Robert Pattison narrowly escaped serious injury after almost being squashed by an elephant on a movie-set.

The Twilight star came close to being flattened by Rosie, an elephant he was riding for a scene in his latest project, Water For Elephants.

"The script called for the elephant to step forward while swinging her trunk from side to side, but Rosie got her signals mixed up," a source told National Enquirer magazine. "Instead, she sat down on her big butt, lifted her front legs - then rolled over.

"Before anyone could react, Robert slid right down the elephant's back. It could have been a disaster if she'd rolled over on him - but he got lucky, landing face first in a pile of dirt and mud. He was filthy, but unharmed."

The source added that once it became clear that the 24-year-old was unharmed, the cast, crew and Pattinson's co-star Reese Witherspoon couldn't help but laugh at the incident.

"Everyone on the set cracked up - especially Reese, who was laughing so hard she couldn't catch her breath. [He said] I'm just glad she didn't roll on top of me!"

Pattinson recently suffered another animal-related mishap on the Water For Elephants set when he was bitten by a lion.