On January 27th, in Chongqing’s Dazu District, a girl threw a lit firecracker into a sewer, causing a methane explosion in the sewer that instantly propelled the girl into the air.
According to reports from Shangguan News, an eyewitness stated that the little girl threw a small firecracker into the manure pit’s pipe, leading to an explosion. The child was later taken to the hospital by emergency services.
A widely circulated video from the scene shows a young girl in a yellow jacket squatting near a manhole cover on the street, dropping a firecracker into the sewer before quickly walking away. However, just a few steps away, she was propelled into the air by the powerful force of the explosion, landing near another manhole cover approximately three seconds later.
Following the explosion, the manhole cover and surrounding stones were shattered, leaving the scene in chaos.
Some netizens speculated, “After watching the video, the girl was flung near the manhole cover, disappearing from the surveillance footage before falling to where the man was standing. It is estimated that the height of the flight was at least seven to eight meters. Surviving is a miracle. As for any potential lasting effects, it is currently unknown.”
Subsequently, the Dazu District Emergency Management Bureau reported that around 7:40 pm on January 27th, a girl in the Jinguiguang Plaza residential area in Longshui Town was injured while igniting firecrackers on a sewer cover, inadvertently causing a methane explosion from fermentation in the sewer. The girl has been sent to the hospital for treatment and is not in danger of losing her life.
The incident has sparked discussions online. Some netizens expressed, “Such incidents happen every year. Guardians need to take responsibility and ensure tragedies like these don’t happen again during Chinese New Year.” Others suggested, “In addition to blaming parents and children, should we also seriously consider the social issue of methane emissions from sewers? Universities should initiate such research projects.”
“Schools and kindergartens should enhance safety education in this area, especially in the period before winter holiday break! Parents should strengthen supervision and education too,” some commented.
Furthermore, others pointed out, “Manure pits should not be located on sidewalks. There should be regulated areas, warning signs, methane monitoring mechanisms, and concrete implementation. The government should address this safety hazard akin to how smoking at gas stations is managed, without solely blaming the people.” “This is indeed a safety hazard. Leaving aside children playing with firecrackers, which is certainly wrong and a lapse in supervision, just imagine if the explosion was caused by other factors. What if an innocent bystander happened to be walking on the manhole cover or within the blast radius?”