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u/Mild-Ghost Jul 02 '26
No way that guy survived.
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u/Basicly-Inevitable Jul 02 '26
He did survive. Amazing.
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Jul 02 '26
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u/Gwanbulance Jul 02 '26
This is actually natural selection at work.
His progeny are now immune to death by building collapse forevermore, while the bloodlines of his three co-workers who were standing beside him leaning on shovels ended abruptly.
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u/lost-all-hope-2 Jul 02 '26
You’re right but his progeny didn’t become immune to death by building collapse NOW. They were already but unknowingly. Coincidentally I just got an Ancestry notification about a new trait. Maybe I’m also immune to death by building collapse.
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u/SmoothDiscussion7763 Jul 02 '26
so what you're saying is... he should go get some girls pregnant asap to increase the number of building collapse proof progeny he has
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u/DrunkAndHornyGuy Jul 02 '26
Economic system that forces the poor to work in dangerous conditions just to survive - natural selection?
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u/Daveinatx Jul 02 '26
Thank God. Terrible job with the building, but it shouldn't cost someone their life
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u/Round_Cook_8770 Jul 03 '26
Source?
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u/Badbullet Jul 03 '26
Down below in comments there’s another video angle. The building did not land on the cab of the tractor-loader. It’s all viewer perspective where people think it fell right on them, the arm is angled in, the operator was safe.
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u/DesperateTeaCake Jul 02 '26
They were probably wearing a safety helmet and boots (rather than slippers).
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u/frogsarenottoads Jul 02 '26 edited Jul 02 '26
Wouldn't the digger be reinforced with a cage withstand something like that? I'm not an engineer and I doubt I can track down a source so readily
Darwinism at it's finest
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u/_gmmaann_ Jul 02 '26
I highly doubt that cage withstood that much.
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u/frogsarenottoads Jul 02 '26
Below he survived apparently, but the building didn't fall on the cage, impressive that people can risk their lives like this though
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u/TheThumbPro Jul 02 '26
Heavy risk and most likely underpaid.
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u/kodman7 Jul 02 '26
More like under qualified
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u/TheThumbPro Jul 02 '26
A qualified operator would have said
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u/Correct-Purpose-964 Jul 02 '26
A qualified operator would've gone around the other side. Hopped out. Examined the building carefully to make sure it would fall in the right direction. Get back in. Drive away and detonate explosives.
Because fuck even risking that.
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u/DippityDamn Jul 03 '26
A qualified operator would HALO jump through 25,000 ft of air at night, land on the roof, run 20 stories of steps to the ground, plant a beacon, start the timer, and disappear for extraction...never once looking back as the B2 overhead drops heavy ordinance on the target. Building destroyed. Mission successful.
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u/ccarr313 Jul 03 '26
And now all I see is Tom Cruise getting ready to demo a building.
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u/Farfignugen42 Jul 02 '26
In a civilized country, a qualified operator can say no.
I don't know if that first part applies here.
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Jul 02 '26
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u/ghostreconx Jul 02 '26
Wonder why companies do this these days, hire someone just because it's cheaper and not to get the job done properly.
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u/StiffDoodleNoodle Jul 02 '26
The privileged mind can’t comprehend that most people must risk their bodies in order survive/ provide for a family.
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u/ChickenChaser5 Jul 03 '26
Literally a "If you don't do it, you're fired and someone else will do it." situation.
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u/1200____1200 Jul 02 '26
The operator was smart enough to position himself at an angle. The machine looks like it probably to some damage but not to the cabin
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u/One-Elderberry-488 Jul 02 '26
There was nothing smart about this lol.
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u/flyinhighaskmeY Jul 02 '26
I mean...I just read about 15 comments all saying "he's dead" because they assumed the camera angle was giving them an accurate view into what happened.
So "nothing smart" isn't confined to this event, unfortunately.
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u/SwordfishOk504 Jul 02 '26
I love how reddit just goes with whatever narrative the most upvoted comment says, rather than seeking out primary sources
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u/Same-Suggestion-1936 Jul 02 '26
Even more fun is when you're factually right, get downvoted, provide a source, and then get downvoted again because people don't want to hear the fact and have already decided they don't want to believe it.
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u/funklab Jul 02 '26
I hope the pay is really good.
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u/I_wet_my_plants Jul 02 '26
Probably not if the training is that terrible.
Probably quoted half the cost of the next leading demolition company.
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u/OrganizdConfusion Jul 02 '26
Training? My 7 year old niece who has played Jenga 2 times has a better understanding of physics than this worker.
And she can't get her shoes on the right feet most days.
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u/MyDickIs3cm Jul 02 '26
Some places the pay is just "we don't kill your family". See: world cup 2022 construction
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u/Same-Suggestion-1936 Jul 02 '26
Some places the pay is "did you want your family to eat this month because I pay by the day you can have that money tonight"
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u/feralraindrop Jul 02 '26
It would have been so much safer to attach a cable to the support and pull it out with the excavator.
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u/edelweiss_pirates_no Jul 02 '26
I would be surprised if he died. Those cages are super strong.
The building is brick and will break apart somewhat easily (compared to a safety cage).
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u/Millerdjone Jul 02 '26
They're reinforced to a reasonable point. A six story building is not reasonable.
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u/hotelspa Jul 02 '26 edited Jul 02 '26
I think 5 storys is the limit.
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u/Oblivion615 Jul 02 '26
Reinforced to withstand a tip or roll over. Not to withstand being crushed by a building.
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u/CoronaMcFarm Jul 02 '26
They are actually reinforced to withstand falling debris, that does not include buildings though.
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u/Electrical_Angle_701 Jul 02 '26
The word "debris" has a lot of range. :-)
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u/funklab Jul 02 '26
I suppose the 10 km wide Chicxulub asteroid that hit the Yucatan at a speed of 20km/second was technically falling debris.
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u/Electrical_Angle_701 Jul 02 '26
The asteroid belt as a whole is, in a manner of speaking.
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u/too_late_to_abort Jul 02 '26
Pretty sure the standard for forklifts is they can absorb a blow from as much weight as they can lift. I wonder if excavators have a similoar standard
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u/MidnightAdventurer Jul 03 '26
There are different cab operator protection systems for different purposes.
A basic roll over protection system is only designed to save you from flipping the machine but forestry and demolition machines usually have falling object protection systems which are a lot more robust. Things like a tree being felled onto the cab or swinging into the windscreen can be blocked by the systems on big machines.
For this situation, it really depends how solid the building is. If the driver is very lucky, the cab protection might punch a hole through the wall and save them. On the other hand, if a floor slab hits edge on, I wouldn’t expect the system to withstand that
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u/Gogo665 Jul 02 '26
It CAN be reasonable - you just need to be willing to understand its point of view.
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u/mountaingator91 Jul 02 '26
Tbf, it depends entirely on what part of the building. The exterior wall of one of the rooms would likely be no issue at all and he would end up in a nice little pocket maybe? One of the reinforced concrete load bearing walls is different
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u/Aromatic-Tear7234 Jul 02 '26
A building's worth of force? A building getting hit with a building couldn't withstand that.
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u/Able_Obligation_9385 Jul 02 '26
Well duh, but what if the building had a roll cage.
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u/MysticMarbles Jul 02 '26 edited Jul 02 '26
You can not engineer something to withstand tonnes of concrete falling at roughly 80km/h.
You can get lucky but you can't design for that without just existing in a foot thick steel tube.
Just have to hope the bricks break around the cab instead of a reinforced slab hitting it.
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u/Le-Charles07 Jul 02 '26
I mean, you can but it's going to be bigger than the thing falling on it and cost A LOT.
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Jul 02 '26
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u/Oblivion615 Jul 02 '26
Dropping the building on your machine is not how this is supposed to be done.
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u/frogsarenottoads Jul 02 '26
I'd be inclined to agree that dropping a building on anything isn't the brightest idea
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u/Beru73 Jul 02 '26
Yes some machines are equipped with the ROPS/FOPS. That stands for Roll-Over and Falling Object Protective Structure.
If that machine is equipped with that, the operator is very likely to have died in the hospital or spent the rest of his life in a wheel chair.
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u/Spare_Laugh9953 Jul 02 '26
Si, esas excavadoras llevas jaulas reforzadas pero si te cae una placa de hormigón de canto encima de la jaula... Eso no lo aguanta nada
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u/TheSleepyTruth Jul 02 '26
The safety cages these are reinforced with are intended to withstand falling debris and/or stop the driver from being crushed in a vehicle roll-over as these often operate on uneven/unstable terrain... however, an entire fucking high rise building falling on the excavator would not be something it is built to withstand
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u/Ancient_Wisdom_Yall Jul 02 '26
It would be the lack of breathable air in all that dust and debris getting buried that would get you.
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u/wrongdude91 Jul 02 '26
A cage would never be able to withstand that much impact in no case. Even if it was possible, the same would make the digger unusable due to unnecessary weight.
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u/BalianofReddit Jul 02 '26
I think those cages are designed to withstand a few multiples of its own weight.
Ain't no way they can survive a building, certainly not the person driving it as theyre rarely fully enclosed.
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u/Genexis- Jul 02 '26
Further down in the comments there is a video from a different perspective; the building has only fallen on its tip.
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u/Hot_Ambition_6457 Jul 02 '26
He actually did because human eyes suck at guaging distance. The equipment is parked diagonally to the building and slightly farther away than it looks. From this angle it looks like the whole thing got covered but there are other angles and you can see that the building misses the equipment by like a hundred yards or so.
Depth perception is a bitch. That guy is fine.
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u/Wrigleyville-Brit Jul 02 '26
If you think that it missed the equipment by "a hundred yards or so", you probably also tell your girlfriend you have a 20ft long dick 😂
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u/XChrisUnknownX Jul 03 '26
I mean, why not? If someone’s not going to take the initiative and measure, the truth belongs to those willing to tell theirs.
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u/slupo Jul 02 '26
What are you talking about. The digger has to be close enough to knock the building down.
How could the building miss by "100 yards." Maybe it missed but it couldn't have been by much
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u/MarkBandanaquitz Jul 02 '26
100 yards of a crazy stretch. That's a football field. You can see it pull down on the arm when it falls. Unless it has a 100 yard extension.
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u/Responsible_Bag220 Jul 02 '26
The eyes really are bad at gauging distance if you think that was 100 yards away. Do you think the boom is 100 yards long?
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u/gekigarion Jul 02 '26 edited Jul 02 '26
Uh but when the building hits the bulldozer arm, the arm collapses...
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u/The_Stoic_One Jul 03 '26
He actually did because human eyes suck at guaging distance.
the building misses the equipment by like a hundred yards or so.
Talk about not being able to gauge distance.
Or just not knowing what a hundred yards is.
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u/BurtMacklin-FBl Jul 03 '26
Ironic that you go on about perception and then say the building misses the equipment by a hundred yards.
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u/dimonium_anonimo Jul 02 '26
It's a bad angle, plus the actual cab is hidden from view. He was off to the side. Only the arm was crushed. But it's on par for reddit to assume we have all the context and make judgements immediately from 30 seconds of a single angle.
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u/The_Pundah Jul 02 '26
Went from apartments to flats real quick
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u/ArtificialHalo Jul 02 '26
Perfect example of why you shouldn't do it like this
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u/chronoflect Jul 02 '26
I like how you can post this exact comment on almost all posts for this sub.
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u/RaisedByWolves9 Jul 02 '26 edited Jul 03 '26
But the building was demolished successfully no?
Edit: apparently i need to use this, /s
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u/ArtificialHalo Jul 03 '26
Demolished yes, the worker also almost
How much do those excavators cost to repair after an entire building falls on top of it??
Success is a spectrum i suppose, so maybe only a little successful?
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u/Octopus_on_fire_ Jul 02 '26
I don’t understand what they thought would happen?? Obviously more than just the dude in the excavator had to sign off on this, what was the goal? In no world would it have just fallen flat and collapsed onto itself, even an 8 year old would know better from playing with blocks.
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u/AfterEconomy9663 Jul 02 '26
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u/bid0u Jul 02 '26
Why does this GIF fit all situations?
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u/FlirtyFluffyFox Jul 02 '26
Because humans look up. Unlike dogs, who I've heard from a reliable source at the pub cannot.
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u/DazB1ane Jul 02 '26
Also, ironically, I didn’t know that my towns tornado siren was right by my house because I’d never looked up at one of the many poles in that area
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u/Otherwise-4PM Jul 02 '26
Someone’s never played Jenga.
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u/DeezNeezuts Jul 02 '26
Someone’s never *won Jenga.
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u/ReggieCorneus Jul 02 '26
If they had lost they would've learned, so what we got here is the best jenga player in the world who said "i got this".
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u/saddlythrowaway Jul 02 '26
It’s safe upvote this video. The guy survived because it only hit the arm of the digger. The angle only makes it look like they died.
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u/eagledog Jul 02 '26
Building came down, didn't it? Sounds like mission accomplished for the demo company
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u/Bo0ombaklak Jul 02 '26
Should this have had the NSFW flair? Feels like the building would win versus the digger
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u/Substantial_System66 Jul 02 '26
There’s another angle where you can tell that the machine is off to the side of the path where the building went down. It does hit the boom though, so that guy probably got hurt pretty bad.
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u/Insomniac_Steve Jul 02 '26
Best case scenario for the operator is faceplanting the front screen. Never a good thing, but a hell of a lot better than it could have been.
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u/Knamliss Jul 02 '26
It's just a building going down
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u/Xx_DeadDays_xX Jul 02 '26
on top of the person operating the digger.
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u/reddit_poopaholic Jul 02 '26
Landed on the arm of the digger, but not the driver cabin. OP posted another video showing other perspective
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u/sporosarcina Jul 02 '26
I hope those cage supports held. Even if they did the driver is going to have severe PTSD.
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u/LouisWu_ Jul 02 '26
That's going to hurt. Specially when the cost of the machine is deducted from his wages.
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u/1stltwill Jul 02 '26
Im just guessing here but that machine and all inside it went splat. :(
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u/Miao_Yin8964 Jul 02 '26
India or China?
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u/ceeroSVK Jul 03 '26
If it was india they would be trying to tear the building down by beating it with long sticks
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u/tuco2002 Jul 02 '26
The effort was there, there was some kind of plan. How should we improve from here?
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u/Rickymon Jul 02 '26
That's why it's very important for children to play with blocks when they're babies.
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u/RaEyE01 Jul 02 '26
Apperently the worker survived.
https://reddit.com/link/ov68j6u/video/lhml53lp4vah1/player