Girl is accidentally pushed under a bus by her friend. Should friend go to prison?

An apparent prank that went horribly wrong last week nearly cost a young Polish girl her life when her friend literally pushed her under a bus.

The scary incident in Czechowice-Dziedzice on Thursday was caught by surveillance cameras in the neighborhood. The footage was released Tuesday.

The two girls were walking side-by-side down a sidewalk. One girl shoved the other off the sidewalk and into the street at the very moment a bus was passing by.

The video shows the girl falling under the bus. It appears that one of the rear tires just missed her head by inches, though some media reports claim the girl's head hit the tire.

According to Polish media, the shove was meant as a joke. The two girls appeared to be fooling around as they walked down the sidewalk.

But "if this happened a fraction of a second earlier, the vehicle would run over the teenager's head," wrote the Super Express tabloid in Warsaw.

The bus driver immediately stopped and called police and an ambulance.

Police reported that the victim suffered only minor abrasions and bruises.

Based on interviews with the two girls and witnesses, police fined the injured girl's friend, who is 17, for causing a traffic hazard, Super Express reported. The fine was 70 euros, equal to $86.

But after watching the video footage, the city's police commander decided to seek a stronger punishment for the teen, who said she was just joking around, a police spokesman said.

If a court agrees, the girl will be responsible for exposing her friend "to loss of life or health" and could face up to a year in prison. The court case is pending.

The court of public opinion has already spoken, however, with scores of people online urging the injured girl to press charges against her friend. Others chalk up the incident to careless horsing around.

The Daily Record newspaper in Glasgow called it a "stupid stunt."

Here's a sampling of the public reaction.

"This looks like attempted murder to me."

"What is wrong with you people, she was goofing around. Her reaction clearly shows shock. Yes it was a mistake and hopefully they learned from it. So happy all involved are safe and not injured."

"Prank?!!? A prank is ... 'this is shaving cream not whipped cream!' Got ya!! Not 'Let me push you into a moving bus nearly killing you!' She better keep an eye on that so called friend!! WOW!!"

"Looks like she simply was pushed too hard and lost balance. Have none of y’all not ever reached out and pushed someone out of silliness? I know I have done it when we were joking around. Luckily it was never near a bus."