Story By: John Feng, Sub-Editor:  Joseph Golder, Agency: Asia Wire Report   

Video Credit: AsiaWire

This is the moment a young boy is sent flying when he reportedly drops a match down a manhole and it causes a methane explosion.

Dramatic footage of the accident in Baoding, a city in China’s northern province of Hebei, shows the metal cover being blasted high into the air before crashing down nearby.

In the video, the boy and a friend are seen standing near the manhole when the child bends over to drop a lit match into the sewer below.

The experiment has an immediate effect when biogas underground – reportedly methane – ignites and a spark is seen by his feet.

However, before he has time to run away, an explosion pushes the manhole into the air, flinging him off his feet and dropping him on his head.

His shocked friend takes cover and lies flat on the ground as the metal manhole cover crashes down nearby.

As the video ends, the first boy has hobbled away to one side as adults appear after hearing the blast.

According to reports, the boys were not seriously harmed.

Many similar accidents have happened in China where children have been seen dropping matches or fireworks such as bangers into sewers, causing an inevitable explosion of the biogas build-up underground.

The ViralTab page is created by and dedicated to professional, independent freelance journalists. It is a place for us to showcase our work. When our news is sold to our media partners, we will include the link here.