I was nearly killed by an explosion this evening

latenia

Walking home from work at 8.30 along Mary St there was loud bang and the manhole cover about 10 feet in front of me flew several feet into the air before landing upsidedown. Thankfully the street was deserted apart from me and a few English tourists but 2 hours earlier that spot would undoubtably have been thronged.
Apparently this is common enough but I'd never heard of it before:

http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2010/07/manhole-explosions/

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It's not a great pic but on the 2nd 1 it looks kind of scorched.

ooter

i hope you replaced the manhole cover or at least reported it before you left the scene?
you were lucky in that you got a warning with the bang but if that hole is still there somebody is (drunkenly) going to walk straight in to it...

PaulieC

can you explain a bit about how you were 'nearly killed"?

Davy

Guessing it was a cable fault. Cant think what else it would be?

Jumpy

I though they all had bar locks now. I guess not.

latenia

cambo_gueno wrote: »

can you explain a bit about how you were 'nearly killed"?

How much would you say one of those things weighs? There was an explosion powerful enough to force it several feet in the air a few yards in front of me. I was being hyperbolic in the title obviously but I wouldn't like to get one in the face all the same. I called Store St at the time and they said they'd get someone down to have a look and call the corpo.

HumanAfterAll

There is no better way of end the week than with an explosion that throws a sewer lid straight to your teeth. You could have been one of those people that appears on TV like those ones that get hit by a meteor, as I read this morning. You've lost your 15 min of fame

Sometimes I wonder if there is "something" playing with us or it's just random.

Davy

latenia wrote: »

How much would you say one of those things weighs?

About 5 kgs i'd say

luckyfrank

Do you guys know the smaller man hole's around housing estates about 8 or 9 years ago on a hot summers day there were an army of ants coming form inside one in a eureka moment i decided to go out to my shed and grab a petrol can i poured the contents into the the man whole and the lit it

KA-BOOM a huge flame shot up at me buring my eyebrows and the cover of the man whole blew completely off, it turns out that it was a gas mains out side the neighbours house

Very nearly made it i could have won a darwin award

stovelid

Reminds me of the scrap between Superman, Zod and the other baddies in Superman 2.