Manhole explosion in New York’s Times Square triggers mass panic

An explosion was heard in New York’s Times Square after three manholes caught fire on Sunday evening, triggering mass panic and sending crowds running, according to local news reports and videos circulating on Twitter.

No injuries were reported as a result of the incident, according to Fox News Digital which cited preliminary reports from the New York Police Department (NYPD) and New York Fire Department (FDNY).

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Firefighters at the scene discovered elevated carbon monoxide levels at an 18-story office building, near the site of the explosion, and were in the process of venting the area, a spokesperson from the FDNY told Fox News Digital.

According to local media Spectrum News NY1, the fire caused parts of Times Square to be shut down.

The videos posted on social media showed people running away in a state of panic, after the sound of the explosion alarmed them as they seemed to not know what was happening.

“There’s just a huge explosion,” witness Brad Ball told Fox News. “It didn’t sound extraordinarily close, but definitely was an explosion.”

Celebrity chef Gary Maclean tweeted: “This isn’t my normal tweet but tonight I was 100 [feet] away from an explosion in Times Square, I took this video a few seconds after. I believe it was a fire under ground that blew up. It’s a miracle no one was hurt.”

Cable failure was apparently the cause behind the explosion, energy company Con Edison said in a company statement according to Spectrum News NY1.

“At this time, there have been no customer outages, and no reports of injuries or property damage. Our crews remain on location,” the statement read.

Manhole explosions are common and are often caused by frayed wires from aging, corrosive chemicals or rats biting them. These wires often carry around 13,000 volts of electricity and once they heat up the paper, lead and rubber insulation, they can causes fires which releases gases.

The pressure from the gas then builds up inside the manhole and electrical wires arc like a bolt of lightning and ignite the gases, causing a powerful explosion. Depending on the amount of gas-pressure built up inside the manhole, the cover – which often weighs between 35 to 135 kg – can flip over and be launched several feet in the air causing either a fire or an explosion, depending on the gas pressure level.

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