Home and dry! Man cheats death by seconds after walking out of Spanish laundromat just before tumble dryer explodes in massive fireball
- The explosion caused a fireball at the spot where the man had been standing
- The cause was a cigarette lighter that had been left in a pocket
A man cheated death after walking out of a Spanish laundromat seconds before one of the clothes dryers exploded.
Footage of the extraordinary incident showed him closing the door behind him less than ten seconds before the explosion.
The explosion sent a ball of fire through the property to where the man had just stood after packing his clean laundry. And it was so strong that it smashed all the windows and even ripped the front door off its hinges and caused other damage to the facade.
The laundry on the ground floor is located at the entrance of an industrial estate in the Galician town of La Coruna. Investigators have concluded that the blast was caused by the overheating of flammable fuel in a cigarette lighter that had been left in a trouser pocket.
Man cheated death by seconds after walking out of a Spanish laundromat just before one of the tumble dryers exploded
Footage from the extraordinary incident showed him closing the door behind him only less than ten seconds before the blast
Footage showed the tumble dryer door being blown open before turning the property bright orange and leaving debris on the ground inside and outside the laundromats in the aftermath of the blast. Presumably no one else was inside at the time.
The incident took place on March 14 at around 8 p.m., but video of the blast has only just been made public.
According to reports before the footage emerged, police said firefighters were among the emergency services.
Firefighters are said to have demolished the damaged facade due to a crack in the plaster.
The explosion sent a ball of fire through the property to where the man had just stood after packing his clean laundry
The explosion was so strong that it shattered all the windows and even ripped off the front door
Investigators have concluded that the blast was caused by the overheating of flammable fuel in a cigarette lighter left in a trouser pocket
A witness told a local newspaper the day after the blast, “We heard a loud noise, but it didn’t sound like an explosion.
“We didn’t give it another thought until about ten minutes later the sirens of fire trucks started blaring.
“I went out and found the entire street corner destroyed.
“The firefighters tore down the front wall outside because it had a crack in it and they thought there was a risk it could collapse.”