Viral Video Shows Car Going Airborne and Flipping in Spectacular Crash

Police in Slovakia released footage of a stunning car accident this week in which the driver launched his vehicle into the air—and somehow lived to tell the tale.

In a clip that has since been viewed more than 1.5 million times on social media, the Police Force of the Slovak Republic (Polícia Slovenskej Republiky) said the incident occurred at Bôrik Tunnel near Poprad at just before 5 a.m. on Thursday. The vehicle was a BMW, officials said.

The man, 44, was alone in the car and treated at the scene, and reportedly escaped without significant injury. After the crash he passed alcohol and sobriety tests, police said online. It was reported the driver is from Bardejov, a town in North-Eastern Slovakia.

The surveillance footage resembled a scene from the Grand Theft Auto video game series. The fast-moving BMW is seen veering to the side of the road just before the tunnel entrance and hitting an elevated fixture. As sparks fly, the car is launched into the air. It hits the top of the tunnel and comes crashing down—flipping 360 degrees before finally coming to a stop.

Luckily, it appears the road was relatively calm at the time of the accident. One tailing car can be seen in the video. The driver slammed on their brakes and turned on their hazard lights.

The department's Facebook account later posted two images showing what was left of the car. The right-hand side at the front of the vehicle—the driver's side—was crushed and mangled. The windscreen was shattered, door scraped and bent, while the car's hood pointed upright.

Comments under the clip likened the incident to the Fast and the Furious, Batman and Knight Rider. "It could have been very bad, but he was lucky," one Facebook user wrote.

The driver's identity was not released by local law enforcement at the time of publication. It also remained unclear how fast the man had been driving at the time of the shocking collision.

According to The Mirror, a British tabloid newspaper, police officials said the man had likely fallen asleep at the wheel.

A police department spokesperson reportedly told the news outlet: "The 44-year-old driver was not injured, maybe a few bruises but no broken bones. It seems he went into a microsleep. Interestingly, this video has become one of [our] most popular posts."