A controlled explosion of an old power plant went horribly wrong, leaving many injured including one man who lost a leg. INSIDE EDITION reports.
It should have been a spectacular implosion demolishing an old power plant, but it all went tragically wrong.
Five spectators were injured by flying debris. One 44-year-old man lost a leg.
One witness said, "His foot was missing and his leg was all torn up."
Large pieces of debris from the initial explosions can be seen on video being hurled away from the plant and into the crowd.
Another witness said, "A piece of probably four-inch by six-inch metal shrapnel hit a young lady and hit me in the knee as well."
At first, a utility company executive thought it had all gone perfectly, saying, "All the structures fell exactly as we anticipated." Then he heard the sirens.
Spectators had been moved 1,000 feet from the explosions. Investigators believe that wasn't far enough.
Spectacular demolitions like one in Florida last month have become spectator sports. But they can go wrong.
A grain tower in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, was imploded, but the building didn't collapse and had to be brought down with a ball and chain.
Nobody was laughing when the Sands Hotel in New Jersey was imploded and came down at a an angle. Screams of people who were standing too close for comfort could be heard.
Now, the spectacular demolition of an old power plant has changed one spectator's life forever.
