Caught on camera: Underground explosion
Posted: Feb 3, 2015 4:32 PM EDT
Black smoke could be seen flowing from a manhole just before one of the explosions happened Monday morning.
Witnesses also reported seeing flames coming from underground.
Emergency personnel were already on the scene investigating a smoldering manhole on one street when a cover blew off a block away.
It hit an elderly man when it came down again.
"I actually witnessed it, the manhole, we were on the block, a block away but the manhole cover was probably 40-50 feet in the air and when it landed it unfortunately struck this man,” said Stephen Corcoran of FDNY Battalion 32.
The man was taken to a hospital and is expected to recover.
The only other injury was to a woman cut by flying glass in her apartment.
The underground explosions shattered windows up and down the street.
A spokesperson for Con Edison said the fire was probably sparked by melting snow combined with street salt getting into the electrical system.