{
  "id": 14926045,
  "title": "How last-minute seat change saved my life in 2017 bus bombing– Merino",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/16/how-last-minute-seat-change-saved-my-life-in-2017-bus-bombing-merino-14926045",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-10-16T10:12:54.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Punch",
    "slug": "punch",
    "url": "https://punchng.com/how-last-minute-seat-change-saved-my-life-in-2017-bus-bombing-merino/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Arsenal midfielder Mikel Merino recounted how a last-minute seat change on Dortmund's team bus potentially saved his life during a 2017 bomb attack in Germany. Merino and his teammates were traveling to the Champions League quarter-final against Monaco when a bomb, packed with metal pins, detonated as the bus passed a hedge. Miraculously, Merino had moved to another seat due to discomfort in his legs. The seat he occupied had reclining seats, which could have protected him from the shrapnel that lodged in the headrest of his usual seat. In an interview with The Players' Tribune, Merino said, \"The seats in the front reclined, so I sat up there instead, and it may have saved my life.\" The attack left Merino with a stress fracture in his right foot, which threatened to keep him out of Spain's World Cup squad. Despite the setback, Merino pushed for a return to the final Premier League match of the season and ultimately made Spain's World Cup squad.",
  "summary": "Arsenal midfielder Mikel Merino has revealed that a last-minute seat change on the Borussia Dortmund team bus likely saved his life during a 2017 bombing in Germany. Merino, who was 20 years old at the time, was traveling with teammates to a Champions League quarter-final match against Monaco when three explosives containing metal pins detonated near a hedge. According to Punch Nigeria, a large piece of shrapnel became lodged in the headrest of the seat Merino would normally have occupied, but he had moved to a different seat because his legs felt tight.\n\nMerino told The Players’ Tribune that he sat in the front because those seats reclined, noting that he feels fortunate to be alive. He described the aftermath of the explosion as having a deafening noise, smoke, and panic, adding that the bus nearly tipped over. The midfielder recalled seeing blood on the floor and hearing screams before later going to a hospital to wait for his teammate, Marc Bartra.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 2,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "Punch Nigeria",
        "title": "How last-minute seat change saved my life in 2017 bus bombing– Merino",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/16/how-last-minute-seat-change-saved-my-life-in-2017-bus-bombing-merino",
        "published": "2026-10-16T10:04:54.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}