Underground gas blast sends Pattaya manhole lids flying on Sukhumvit Road

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One solid steel flying manhole cover landed on a Mazda pickup truck damaging it. No one was hurt in the blast.

An underground explosion sent manhole covers flying 5 meters into the air in Pattaya.

The Oct. 23 explosion, caused by a buildup of methane or another gas in the sewers, threw many iron covers along a 50 meter stretch of Sukhumvit road skyward, with one landing on a Mazda pickup truck, damaging it. No one was injured.



Baht bus driver Winai Amcharoen, 55, said he was sitting in the cab of his truck while it was being serviced at a garage on Sukhumvit Road next to the Shell petrol station, near Mini Siam when he heard the blast, even though the windows were closed. He said he didn’t smell any gas but saw smoke coming out of the manhole.


Another iron manhole cover blasted off just outside the Shell gas station on Sukhumvit Road near Mini Siam.


The force of the pent-up gas explosion sent these heavy solid iron manhole covers flying into the air and could have been deadly had they struck passersby.