The video shows the explosion happen right after Lisa Davis and her grandkids cross over the manhole cover in Poughkeepsie. Davis says she came within a foot of losing her family.
Exploding manhole narrowly misses family on a sidewalk in Poughkeepsie
A manhole suddenly exploded on a sidewalk in Poughkeepsie, barely missing a family taking a stroll.
A New York woman and her grandchildren escaped unharmed from what was supposed to be a leisurely stroll but almost became a nightmare when manhole cover exploded near them.
Video published by the Poughkeepsie Fire Department shows a family, identified by ABC News as Lisa Davis and her two grandchildren, walking down Academy Street in the upstate New York town just after 1:30 p.m. ET on April 19. Just after they cross the manhole cover, there’s an explosion, sending Davis and the kids fleeing.
The department said in a Facebook post that two other manhole covers exploded in the same area. High levels of carbon monoxide were also found in multiple nearby buildings, forcing them to be evacuated.
Photos published by the department show that the explosions damaged the sidewalk around the manhole covers.
No injuries were reported.
Grandmother says she was close to losing grandkids in manhole explosion
In an interview with ABC News, Davis described the moment the explosion happened.
“I was like, ‘Oh my God, I don’t know.’ I didn’t know where to go,” she said. “I didn’t know what to do except grab my grandson and run.”
Davis said that the explosion occurred as the family was returning from an Easter egg hunt.
She said that she did not realize how close the explosion was to her grandchildren until she saw the video: “A foot, one foot of losing my family.”
