Pavement explodes in Pimlico, central London

[Blackleaf]

A central London resident has released video footage of the moment when a pavement exploded in central London, narrowly missing a passer by.

The blast, which left a crater in the middle of the street, occurred at about 10:25 BST on Thursday and is believed to have been caused by a faulty power cable.

Witness Charlie Brook, who filmed the second explosion from her window, described hearing three explosions, the most dramatic being the second blast which saw flames erupt into the air.

BBC News - Pavement explosion in Pimlico, central London

Londoners being Londoners, some of them just carry on walking down the street as though nothing has happened.

See the video of the second explosion:

Pavement explosion in Pimlico, central London - YouTube

 

[Sal]

wow, that is wild

 

[karrie]

Why were they zooming in on it before it happened?

ah, never mind, reading the whole thing helps.

 

[Sal]

Why were they zooming in on it before it happened?

I wondered that too, but I believe it was the third explosion

 

[Blackleaf]

I wondered that too, but I believe it was the third explosion

I think it was the second explosion.

 

[Sal]

it's hard to hide anything now a days, as soon as something starts to go down, we grab a camera

 

[Retired_Can_Soldier]

It was not it was the fifth explosion caused by the NEW WORLD ODOR!

 

[55Mercury]

It was not it was the fifth explosion caused by the NEW WORLD ODOR!

well that's nothing to make a stink about.

 

[L Gilbert]

If you have large currents trying to squeeze through large resistances, there's a lot of heat created. Heating enclosed trapped air causes it to want to expand. The fireworks comes from materials being forced to collide (friction) and wiring being shortcircuited. If you've ever had any experience with British wiring in cars, you'd not wonder why hardly anyone in the vid reacted.

 

[petros]

If you have large currents trying to squeeze through large resistances, there's a lot of heat created. Heating enclosed trapped air causes it to want to expand. The fireworks comes from materials being forced to collide (friction) and wiring being shortcircuited. If you've ever had any experience with British wiring in cars, you'd not wonder why hardly anyone in the vid reacted.

To find breaks in underground power distribution lines a big surge is run through and the wires pretty much jump out of the ground quite violently.

 

[L Gilbert]

To find breaks in underground power distribution lines a big surge is run through and the wires pretty much jump out of the ground quite violently.

And the Brits are too dumb to block off sections of grids they're gonna test? Interesting.

 

[petros]

Ships ahoy mate!