The BBC have shown footage of a manhole that explodes just seconds after a young child and two adults have walked passed it.
The disturbing footage shows the moment the manhole cover bursts open, propelling the cover and surrounding material around the area. Thankfully the child was not directly in the line of fire and the footage appears to show no signs or injury or harm being caused; although the incident itself is highly alarming.
The footage has been released by West Midlands Fire and Rescue and the incident is reported to have happened in Birmingham on Warwick Road, Acocks Green, at midday yesterday. The cause of the explosion has yet to be confirmed, although we have blogged in the past about the exploding pavement phenomenon that has left some city dwellers living in fear.
The exploding pavements have caused serious injuries to several people, and have been put down to water from rainfall seeping in to pavement cracks and coming in to contact with aging wiring systems. In the last two years it is estimated that there have been more than 250 reports of manhole fires, and there are real concerns that fatalities will follow.
There is commonly a duty on highways authorities and utility companies to maintain their areas of jurisdiction. Exploding pavements and manhole covers seems like a bizarre story, but these terrifying incidents are very real, and people are getting hurt.
Clearly more needs to be done to investigate these issues and prevent anyone else from coming to harm.
Watch the video below – the footage is terrifying. It’s a miracle that the young boy wasn’t more seriously harmed. Thankfully he wasn’t.