«The man who survived Judgment Day», as he would later be called, when he toured with a circus and proudly showed the public the marks left by his terrible burns. But before the dreadful tragedy that struck the Caribbean island of Martinique, this man was a real headache for the police of the small town of Saint-Pierre.
A brawler and a troublemaker
The young laborer Ludger Sylbaris was known for his wild and unpredictable temper. A lover of drinking and fighting, he flew into a rage over trifles and immediately resorted to his fists. The townspeople gave Ludger a wide berth. After all, anything could be expected of him. And at the local jail Sylbaris was considered a regular «guest».
On May 7, 1902, Ludger headed out of town to «pump» himself full of alcohol, as was his habit. Already quite drunk, he beat up a random passerby. The police did not stand on ceremony with the troublemaker and once again threw him behind bars.
The cell was a tiny underground room with an opening facing the sea. It had no windows, and only the light seeping in from under the crack of the door was a reminder of the outside world's existence. Although this hardly bothered Ludger Sylbaris. He was drunk, merry and excited, not suspecting that fate was saving him from a terrible death. The tiny cell, where it was hard even to turn around, – turned out to be almost the only place where one could be saved from death.
The catastrophe
It was May 8, 1902. On that very day, the dormant volcano Mont Pelée, located not far from the town of Saint-Pierre, erupted in a powerful explosion. Fiery lava rushed swiftly toward the town, sweeping away and burning everything living in its path. The unfortunate inhabitants burned like matches; the scorching air and poisonous gases choked their lungs. In a matter of minutes Saint-Pierre was completely destroyed. Around 40,000 of its inhabitants were buried under volcanic ash. Only three survived: and among them was Ludger Sylbaris.
The prison cell saved him
According to him, he saved himself from the fire that was coming through the crack under the door in the only way possible – he urinated on his clothes, with which he beat out the flames. Ludger suffered terrible burns, but kept fighting for his life. At times it seemed to him that he would suffocate from the poisonous gas seeping into the cell.
Four days after the volcanic eruption, a rescue team would hear desperate cries from underground. And soon the exhausted but living Ludger would be freed from the ruined prison.
His miraculous rescue would affect the former prisoner's character and behavior. For Ludger, who was shaken to the core by the deaths of tens of thousands of people, a new life would begin. Without his former bad habits and unpredictable behavior.
By the way, besides Ludger, a farmer and a ten-year-old girl also survived the volcanic eruption. The man, when he saw the lava bearing down, threw himself into the ocean. And the girl managed to reach a cave by boat, where she found a safe refuge.
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