Apr 21, 2008 6:31 pm US/Eastern
Manhole Blows, Sends Man Flying
BALTIMORE (WJZ) ―
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A manhole cover blew off and sent a man flying into the air in Northeast Baltimore.
A young man standing on a street corner in Hamilton was shocked to feel the ground move beneath his feet.
Mike Schuh reports the man was standing on a manhole cover, and it didn't stay where it was supposed to.
A new manhole cover has since been installed at the corner of Moravia and Harford roads after the old one disintegrated.
It began with a man waiting for the bus standing right on top of the manhole.
"There was suddenly a loud boom noise. This gentleman went flying into the air," said Kevin Cartwright with the Baltimore City Fire Department.
BGE had problems with an electric cable during Sunday's storms.
"It was not gas related. It appears that an underground electric cable switch that failed is what caused the manhole cover to come off," said Linda Foy with BGE Communications.
"It's hallow under this manhole cover. The switch that failed, it actually blew up, and all that air under here, it had to go somewhere, and it went up," said one worker.
"Eyewitness accounts report approximately 10 feet where he struck a sign just behind me, suffering head and elbow injury," said Cartwright.
The lesson here is when waiting for the bus, don't stand where 'X' marks the spot.
The fire department says the 18-year-old man is in stable condition at Shock Trauma.
BGE didn't have statistics, but says this type of occurrence is rare. The company is investigating how it happened.
(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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