Man hit by suicide bomb blast survives thanks to his smartphone
A Frenchman named Sylvestre was on his cell phone and had just ended a call when a suicide bomb detonated close to where he stood. The shrapnel hit his phone instead of his head.
The explosion was the first of two blasts at the Stade de France last night during a series of coordinated terrorist attack that have seen at least 127 people dead.
Although Sylvestre was also hit by shrapnel in his abdomen and his foot, he knows he is lucky to be alive and has shown off his phone as the thing that saved his life.
Last night, the stadium was hit by the blasts during a friendly match with Germany. During the first half, an explosion could be heard through the stadium, and at first, fans did not seem to understand its implication and even cheered, thinking it might have been fireworks.
However, a second blast was detonated only two minutes later.
The first blast, it is believed, was detonated when a terrorist tried to enter Gate J. The second is believed to have been detonated at a McDonalds in the outer edges of the stadium.
Thousands of scared fans gathered on the pitch and were afraid to leave the stadium as the understand of what was happening sunk in. Eventually, an announcement was made of which exits the fans could and could not take, with some exits deemed unsafe “due to events outside.”
The fans left the stadium together, hugging each other and checking updates on the news from their phones.
President Francois Hollande, who was present to watch the match, was evacuated from the stadium as well.
