As Pliny's vessel approached the shore near Herculaneum, cinders and pumice began to fall on it. The helmsman advised turning back, to which Pliny replied, "Fortune favours the bold; steer to where Pomponianus is." Upon reaching Stabiae, they found Senator Pomponianus, but the same winds that brought them there prevented them from leaving. The group waited for the wind to abate, but they decided to leave later that evening for fear their houses would collapse. The group fled when a plume of hot toxic gases engulfed them. Pliny (a corpulent man who suffered from a chronic respiratory condition, possibly asthma) however was left behind, as he had died from asphyxiation caused by the toxic gases. Upon the group's return three days later after the plume had dispersed, Pliny's body was found, with no apparent external injuries.