Man cheats death when 8ft concrete slab falls 100ft onto his car as he scraped ice from the windscreen in Russia
- CCTV footage shows father-of-one Alexander, 27, was inches from being hit
- He looked up a split second before seeing the large block crashing down
- The slab weighing an estimated two tons left his car a wreck in Vladivostok
A man had a miraculous escape from death today when a giant slab of concrete fell 100ft from a high rise residential building as he cleared ice from his car windscreen.
A dramatic CCTV video shows how father-of-one Alexander, 27, was inches from being hit as it smashed into the roof of his Nissan X-Trail in Russian port city Vladivostok.
The trawlerman looked up a split second before to see the large block crashing down from the side of the building – and ran for his life.
This is the moment the concrete slab smashed into the Nissan X-Trail in Russian port city Vladivostok
Alexander, 27, looked up a split second before to see the large block crashing down from the side of the building – and ran for his life. Pictured: The extent of the damage
The concrete slab weighed an estimated two tons and left his vehicle a wreck
The slab weighing an estimated two tons left his vehicle a wreck.
It had plunged from the side of the building on the ninth floor on Neibuta Street.
One estimate said it was 8ft by 4ft.
His wife Darya Ponomarenko-Zhuk, 26, also cheated death by seconds earlier going inside the block to get hot water to clear the thick ice.
Father-of-one Alexander, 27, decided to have a beer after the ordeal to celebrate his ‘second birthday’ – the day of his astonishing escape
An onlooker said: ‘Thank God no-one was injured…
‘A slab just fell almost hitting a man.’
Later the fortunate driver posed with a bottle of beer to celebrate his ‘second birthday’ – the day of his astonishing escape.
It was ‘lucky’ his daughter, five, was not sitting on the back seat, he said.
Told on social media he was now famous in Vladivostok, he replied: ‘Better my car was intact.’
A concrete slab also fell from another building in the same street, smashing a Toyota Passo, said reports.
The city faced a night of ‘ice rain’ causing trees to collapse, and making roads treacherous.
Thousands of homes were left without electricity and heating.
Investigations were underway into how the slabs fell from the residential blocks.