A resident of a collapsed house in Florida did not come home due to an accident: how force majeure saves lives in disasters

24 June residential 12-story building collapsed in Florida... At least 11 people were killed and 150 more are reported missing. But the story of one inhabitant of this house is striking at the same time in its simplicity and in the fact that thanks to this he managed to save his life. ForumDaily decided to make a selection of stories of such "lucky ones" who, by chance, were out of danger when they were supposed to die.

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Champlain Towers South resident Eric de Moura was supposed to be home when the building collapsed, but his girlfriend persuaded him to spend the night at her house less than two miles (3,2 km) from the site of the collapse. And this decision saved his life, writes Reuters.

“It’s a miracle for me,” said the 40-year-old native of Brazil.

“This is a very sad moment. Very confusing,” he said. “It’s very difficult to understand my emotions now.”

On Wednesday, June 23rd, de Moura woke up and went to the gym. He then spent the rest of the day working and cooking a traditional Brazilian meal in his two-bedroom apartment on the 10th floor for his girlfriend, at her home in Miami Beach, 3 km from the building that collapsed. They had dinner with friends that evening.

After dinner, they watched a football match between Brazil and Colombia and then played outside. De Moura, drenched after he pulled the ball out of the water, was near the girl's house.

“I said, ‘I’m going to go home because I have to go to the gym tomorrow morning and there’s nothing to wear here,’” he said. “I was saying goodbye and she said, ‘Why don’t you stay?’”

The girl convinced him not to return to her apartment and offered to take a shower while she washes his shorts.

The couple sat down, drank a beer, and fell asleep just as the 130-apartment condominium collapsed. De Moura was awakened a few hours later by a missed call and a message from a woman working in the building asking if he was okay.

“I had goosebumps. My heart was pounding. I got dressed and rushed to the building,” he said.

He described the condominium building as a friendly place where residents from all over the world come to visit.

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“We saw each other in the elevator, sometimes we helped with something,” he said. - These people are dead. But on the other hand, we are glad that we survived.”

De Moura, who sells medical equipment, is grateful to his girlfriend and said that now he must buy her an engagement ring.

“She cries all the time,” he said. “It’s very difficult to understand what’s going on.”

Missed the flight

On March 10, 2019, a Boeing 737-800 MAX of Ethiopian Airlines with 157 people on board crashed shortly after taking off from the airport in the Ethiopian capital. None of the people in the liner survived.

But one passenger of the plane never got on board, which saved his life. The man himself says that he was saved by the power of "invisible threads of luck."

Greek Antonis Mavropoulos said that he missed flight 302 after too short a connection time between his flights to Addis Ababa and Nairobi.

“I am writing because I want to tell everyone that invisible threads of luck - unplanned circumstances - weave the web of our lives. There are millions of little threads that we usually never feel, but if one of them breaks, then the whole web instantly collapses, "the man wrote.

Mavropoulos was on his way to the conference in Nairobi, the final destination of Flight 302. When he arrived at the connecting airport in Addis Ababa, he had less than 30 minutes to board his next plane. When the man reached the gate, the boarding was already over.

“I asked them to let me in, but they wouldn't let me in,” he said.

“I’m gradually coming to understand what happened and how close it was. On the other hand, I am also very upset - I am upset because of those who died, ”the man admitted.

Celebrated birthday

A passenger Boeing 737-800 flying from Dubai crashed in Rostov-on-Don in March 2016. The plane crashed while landing in poor visibility conditions. According to the Russian Emergencies Ministry, there were 55 passengers and seven crew members on board, all of them died, writes RIA News".

But one passenger Elvira Isaeva did not fly, as she was celebrating her birthday.

“We can say, fortunately, one of our passengers, the passenger who was supposed to fly, did not fly out of Dubai airport due to the fact that she celebrated, as we were told, a birthday with her friend, returned to the hotel late and could not get for transfer. Our Dubai partner, Alfa Tour, extended her stay, respectively, at its own expense, for several days. And in a few days, when she can, she will return to the Russian Federation, ”a representative of the travel company told reporters at the time.

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“This is a passenger Elvira Isaeva, born in 1982. Unfortunately, I cannot tell you any other data, ”he said.

on September 11

This tragedy forever changed not only the United States, but the whole world. And as in other cases, there were random survivors. We can say that they were saved thanks to a miraculous coincidence, writes "New News".

The head of a large company survived the 11/XNUMX attack only because he took his son to kindergarten for the first time.

Another guy was outside the building because it was his turn to go for donuts.

The third, unexpectedly, had a pain that had never bothered him before.

And one woman literally slept through the disaster. Her alarm clock did not ring on time and, fortunately, she was late for work.

Some were late because they got stuck in a traffic jam, another life was saved by a small car accident.

One lucky guy just missed the bus. In this case, only for a few seconds.

And some woman accidentally spilled coffee on her clothes, and she needed time to change. Someone stubbornly did not start the car.

Someone came back to answer the phone. And for a young couple, the child was playing for time in every possible way and was not ready on time.

One woman couldn't get a taxi, so she was late.

And one man, for some reason, decided to put on his new shoes, but for a couple of months already, standing alone in the corner near the closet, shoes. He got to work in various ways, but this time, before getting there, he earned a not weak callus on his right leg. The man went to the pharmacy to buy an adhesive plaster. That's why he stayed alive.

Tangerine peel

In July 2000, an Air France plane caught fire and crashed into a hotel four kilometers from Paris. 113 people became victims of the tragedy, writes "Mir24".

This time, not one of the passengers was lucky, but the flight attendant Isabelle Sarian. A series of small bad weather followed her that day, and she had to take time off from work.

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In the beginning, Isabelle cut her finger. When she finished wrapping him with a band-aid, the 12-year-old son reported that he was not feeling well - he had a fever. The stewardess decided to call her mother to look after the baby. She arrived by taxi, but when she got out, she slipped on a tangerine peel and suffered an open leg fracture.

The stewardess had no choice but to call her superiors and ask her to replace. Therefore, she did not get on board the Concorde.

An illogical choice

Famous Ukrainian TV presenter Dmitry Komarov nearly died in a plane crash in Nepal, writes "Observer".

According to the extreme traveler, the plane on which he and the operator Alexander Dmitriev were supposed to fly to the Kingdom of Mustang crashed.

“We had a choice: either 15 minutes by plane, or a day by jeep. By plane - cheaper and faster, by jeep - more expensive and illogical. But for some reason I chose a jeep at the last moment,” said Komarov.

He added that a Ukrainian fellow countryman advised them to go by jeep, since the road to the kingdom is very beautiful and excellent shots can be taken.

“We arrive and find out that the plane we were supposed to fly on crashed. What followed were some incredible two days in our lives. The rescuers and I were looking for the wreckage of the plane,” the TV presenter noted.

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