Brooklyn residents get scare after several manholes explode, sending metal covers shooting in air
CROWN HEIGHTS, Brooklyn (WABC) -- Residents in Brooklyn got quite the scare when a manhole exploded, shooting the heavy metal cover nearly 10 feet in the air. It was sudden and without warning. While the cover did not hit anyone, the force of the explosion was so intense that it shattered the front window of one man's apartment.
"This would have not ended well for me if I was just hanging around here," said Joel.
It was one of several covers that blew along Empire Boulevard in Crown Heights late Sunday morning.
The park nearby was another problem spot, where a different cover had just blown.
Ana Duran says firefighters were evacuating everyone in the area. She says she was about to get inside her vehicle, when a friend, seeing all of the dark smoke, told her to get away from the car.
"She told me, 'Ana, Ana, don't go in the car' I said 'why? She said 'that's a lot of smoke.' Then when I turned my back, that's when my car exploded," Duran said.
Duran was not injured, but residents in the area had to leave for several hours due to an increase in Carbon Monoxide.
"I started to get dizzy and lightheaded in my house and when they came, they measured the levels in my basement, and they were pretty high," said Mark Bonnett.
It is not clear what caused the blown manhole covers. Many believe it could have been so much worse had more people been out and about.
"If it had not been for my customer, I would have died inside my car," added Duran.
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