[Kizzy]

An investigation was today launched into the cause of a dramatic pavement explosion in the West End.

Flames and thick black smoke spewed from a manhole outside BAFTA’s Piccadilly HQ following a series of small explosions said to have been sparked by an underground electrical fault at 11pm.

Crowds of revellers gathered at a police cordon as a five-strong team of firemen dragged a white box-van away from the manhole to prevent flames from engulfing the vehicle.

'The Health and Safety Executive last year warned that Londoners were at risk of being killed as the number of pavement explosions, triggered when a gas leak is ignited by a spark underground.
UK Power Networks, which distributes electricity in London, pledged to increase inspections of underground equipment after 29 incidents in 2013 which left several people in hospital.

It has about 100,000 electrical link boxes in the capital serving 36,000 km of underground cable. The company has invested £40 million in making sure the city’s electrial supply is safe'


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