A pensioner had a lucky escape while he was walking under a concrete ceiling – that collapsed just inches in front of him.

The elderly man was shuffling near the sidewalk when a large slab of stone swung from 17ft above towards him, narrowly missing his head in Bangkok, Thailand, on November 3.

CCTV video captured the miraculous near miss, showing how the man stepped onto the pavement just as the fallen ceiling shattered into pieces.

Concerned shopkeepers rushed outside after hearing the noise and found the man clutching his chest, apparently shocked that he had just cheated death.

Store owner Nattharinee Chaichanatrakool, whose cameras captured in the incident, said: ‘I checked the footage and was shocked. The old man was only seconds away from being hit.

‘The ceiling fell from the department store nearby. Luckily nobody was injured from the incident.’

The pensioner was taken to hospital to be checked over but was declared fit and healthy once he had settled down after the brush with death.

Nattharinee said the fall had been reported to the local authorities who have since secured the area and started working on repairs.