Video: Explosions Launch Manhole Covers Over Worcester (MA) Highway, Intersection

Ryan Mancini – masslive.com

An explosion catapulted two manhole covers into the air over a Worcester intersection and next to an elevated highway last weekend, narrowly missing cars as they came crashing back to the ground.

On Jan. 11, the Worcester Fire Department was notified of smoke coming out of a manhole at a busy city intersection, Assistant Fire Chief Adam Roche told MassLive.

Authorities found two manhole covers smoking at the intersection of Grafton and Franklin streets, as seen on surveillance video obtained by MassLive from MB Lounge, which the business shared on social media the day after the explosions.

Before the explosions, a fire truck partially blocked the far right lane on Franklin Street where it intersects with Grafton Street and cars continued to drive through the intersection.

But just after 6:12 p.m., as two cars and an SUV drove east on Franklin Street, clouds of smoke billowed from the two manholes about 30 feet away from each other. A burst of flames erupted from one of the manholes and then both manhole covers shot into the air, the video shows.

One manhole cover seen shooting up from the intersection flew up as high as the Interstate 290 overpass that runs parallel to Grafton Street.

It took two seconds for that manhole cover to fall to the ground near the front of the SUV, which had stopped in the middle of the intersection once the explosions happened.

The view of the other manhole cover is partially obstructed in the video, so it’s not clear where that cover landed. At least two cars on both sides of the road stopped near that hole as the explosion happened, the video shows.

The fires caused by the explosions were self-extinguished, Roche said. No one was hurt by either the explosions or the falling manhole covers.

The cause of the explosions is under investigation.

©2025 Advance Local Media LLC. Visit masslive.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

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