Caught On Camera: Gas Line Explodes During Con Edison Test In The Bronx

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) - A gas line undergoing testing exploded in the Bronx Thursday afternoon.

Surveillance video caught a man casually walking in the crosswalk seconds before an explosion sent concrete spewing across a Bronx neighborhood.

"First we felt a tremor then heard a hissing sound. So we started to walk to corner and the whole ground opened up," witness Jesus Melendez told CBS2.

"I saw a lump in the middle of the street and in less than 10 seconds and explosion, sent sand up 50 feet," Wilson Dominguez added.

Witnesses say it was like volcano of dirt and rocks that rattled the Concourse neighborhood around 3 p.m. Thursday.

"I heard this big crash and boom sound, felt it shake the building," Luis Pauletta said.

The underground gas pipe explosion at the intersection of East Clark Place and Walton Avenue coated cars in an inch of mud and blew out back windshields, including one in Luis Pauletta's vehicle.

"Back window almost all gone, scratches on the right side," Pauletta added.

Somehow, nobody was hurt.

"Better to happen to my car than a family member," driver Anel Salvador said.

As Con Edison explains, its workers were doing tests on a newly installed gas line that included pushing air through the pipe.

The utility is insisting there was no explosion because there was no fire and no gas. They're referring to it as a test failure that ruptured a new gas line when the pipe "popped."

Neighbors say call it what you want – it was scary and that "explosion" did a lot of damage to the area.

"I don't understand, if testing a pipe does that, maybe they should stop testing the pipe," Pauletta told CBS2's Jessica Layton.