Running late for his Ethiopian Airlines flight from Addis Ababa to Nairobi on Sunday, a Greek man watched the last passengers board ahead of him but was turned back at the gate due to his delay.

The rejection saved his life, the man, Antonis Mavropoulus, reveals in an emotional Facebook postthis link opens in a new tab.

Six minutes after takeoff, the Boeing 737 Max 8 plane departed from Bole International Airport and crashed about 40 miles southeast of the Ethiopian capital. All 157 people on board, including eight Americans, were killed, airline officials said.

When Mavropoulus learned the news, “I collapsed because then I just realized I was lucky,” he wrote, according to an online translation of his message.

Mavropoulus is believed to be the only official passenger to miss the flight. Another manthis link opens in a new tab, Ahmed Khalid, told the BBC he has missed his flight to Addis Ababa, so was given a later connection to Nairobi.