How DID he survive? Horrifying moment semi smashed into sedan that explodes in fireball - but car's 55-year-old driver escapes with minor injuries This is the horrifying moment a semi drives over a sedan that explodes in a huge fireball - before the car's drive somehow escapes unharmed.
Dramatic footage showed the truck barrel over the hatchback at an intersection in Steele County, Minnesota, just after 5.30am on Tuesday.
Michael Vogel, 63, in his 2020 International Tractor crushed 55-year-old Kirk Ruzek's Chevy Impala at crossroads of 44th Avenue and Highway 14 in Havana Township.
Ruzek told WTSP he was rushing to get to work and 'didn't see the semi' as he vanished under the truck just before the tractor flipped over and blew up.
The sedan driver said that the impact of the crash jammed all of his cars doors, with him having to climb out the window through broken glass.
He also recalled two good Samaritans that stopped to help him just before emergency responders arrived on the scene.
'There's a reason I'm still here. I've talked to four people who've seen the video and they said 'How come you're even walking?' And I walked away. I'm grateful I'm still here,' said Ruzek.
According to the incident report, both drivers were wearing their seatbelts and no alcohol was involved.
Just after the collision, the truck and the car laid on the side of the road as other cars pulled up to the crash site.
The impala driver told WTSP: 'I didn't realize, not until it was too late that I am going to hit him.'
'I don't remember the fire, but I seen the video from it and the car blew up in flames. So I was wondering why my left arm had soot all the way up from my hand to my shoulder. That was soot from the fire, but I didn't get burned,' said Ruzek.
Both drivers were taken to Owatonna Hospital where they suffered non-life threatening injuries.
Chevy Impala's are considered full-size cars and since 1985 they've been known as one of the most 'iconic' cars in the auto industry.
Compared to a semi, which averages at 72ft long, an Impala is just a little over 16ft from bumper to bumper.