THIS is the shocking moment a man building a fence got a very nasty surprise.
Incredible CCTV footage shows the man scrambles to safety after a gas main exploded under his feet while building a fence in the village of Wessington near Alfreton.
The camera was rolling at neighbour Alan Brown’s property when the contractor was thrown into the air after the machinery he was manning struck a gas main underground.
Brown said: “It’s from my CCTV. It’s my property to the edge but the field belongs to the farmer.
“The guy in the video is apparently a fencing contractor to the farmer.
“In some of my longer footage you can see him running down the field so I think he’s ok.”
Residents from more than 30 surrounding homes were evacuated as has poured from the pipe in Alfreton, Derbyshire on Tuesday.
Derbyshire Fire and Rescue Service said due to the risk of the leaking gas igniting a fire, they had to stay away from their homes for several hours.
A spokesperson from the gas distribution network, Cadent, engineers worked through the night to make an emergency repair after the pipe was hit by a third party on Brackenfield Lane in Wessington.
Their teams made everything safe and remained on site until the repair work was completed.
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The footage collected more than 1,800 reactions, 2,400 comments and has been shared over 10,000 times.
Many people shared their thoughts, with many agreeing the man was lucky.
One person said: “Lucky he didn’t have a cig in his mouth!!”
Someone else wondered “how much will that cost to fix” to which a person responded: “It’s the loss of gas that’ll be the costly part.”
Another person joked: “Change of drawers required.”
Many people who left their thoughts reiterated: “Call 811 before you dig.”
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Fiona Connor
