Video shows the moment refuse workers in north London had a narrow escape when a bin lorry exploded as they were loading it with waste.
The clip captured by a camera attached to the back of the lorry shows a refuse worker empty a black bin into the vehicle.
Seconds later, as he begins wheeling the empty bin away, a huge explosion from inside the lorry fired rubbish across the street and sent smoke erupting into the air.
The explosion blasted the bin from the hands of the refuse worker, but he and his colleagues escaped unharmed.
Barnet Council says the blast was caused when combustible items such gas canisters or bottles, batteries or aerosols - which had wrongly been placed into a residential bin - were crushed by the lorry’s impactor.
Cllr Alan Schneiderman, Barnet Council Cabinet Member for Environment and Climate Change, described the video as “incredibly shocking”.
“We’re relieved that the crew members escaped unharmed,” he added.
“I hope this helps people to understand how important it is to properly recycle items such as gas canisters and bottles, batteries and aerosols, as on another day we might not have been so lucky.”
This incident followed another earlier this year, in which lithium batteries that had been thrown away in a black bin caught light and burned a hole in the side of a Barnet bin lorry.
The council warns combustible waste should never be placed in waste bins, but can be disposed of at recycling centres, or in some cases returned to the seller for disposal or reuse.
To find out where to recycle these kinds of items you can check Recyclenow’s website here.
