Pedestrian Has Miraculous Escape After Being Caught In New York Pavement Explosion

A man miraculously escaped with his life after an explosion engulfed him while he was just walking down the side of a road in New York. You can check out the incredible - and terrifying - video footage below:

The flames shot up from underground and went high up onto the pavement in the borough of Queens, right where the unsuspecting pedestrian was walking at the time.

The man - a bloke called Barry West - was trapped in precisely the wrong place at the wrong time as he was walking across the grate from which the fire emitted.

West was simply walking down Farmers Boulevard in St Albans on his way to pay off his mobile phone bill at the time of the accident, and - despite the blast knocking him down to floor - he wasn't so badly injured that he was unable to get up and move away.

On the one hand he's been incredibly unlucky to have been standing on the grate at the time, but on the other he has been lucky not to have suffered more severe injuries.

The 57-year-old dad was definitely shaken up, if the surveillance footage is anything to go by, and his friends told NBC New York that he suffered second degree burns.

However, as you can probably tell, the incident had the potential to be much worse.

His mates told the local news outlet that he was in good spirits and recovering at the Nassau University Medical Center, though he is obviously shocked by what happened to him.

Friend Carrol Hamblin said that she believes that it's down to divine intervention that he wasn't killed.

She told NBC: "You can see how God just picked him out of that fire. He staggered. He had his hands up and rubbed his head and fell.

"Just a miracle. Nobody but God could do that. Not a man."

It's not yet clear what caused the explosion, but energy company Con Edison - which is responsible for the electric and gas service in New York City - released a statement that confirmed it is 'investigating the cause of this event which caused serious injury to a member of the public.'

The statement continued: "We express our sincere concern for the victim and our regret for this incident. We wish him a full and fast recovery."

However, Con Edison did not confirm whether there had been reports of problems with underground infrastructure catching fire.

Featured Image Credit: NBC New York

Topics: US News, New York, Weird

Tom Wood

Tom Wood is a LADbible journalist and Twin Peaks enthusiast. Despite having a career in football cut short by a chronic lack of talent, he managed to obtain degrees from both the University of London and Salford. According to his French teacher, at the weekend he mostly likes to play football and go to the park with his brother. Contact Tom on [email protected]

@TPWagwim