BOSTON (WHDH) - Water gushed out of the Hynes Convention Center in Boston while construction work was being done, with the powerful stream hitting cars and soaking Boylston Street Thursday evening.
Construction work was stopped when the water began spurting out around 6:30 p.m. A contracting crew was on scene and first responders put up caution tape where the water blasted out from the side of the building.
Videos of the stream were taken from across the street after an issue at a worksite outside the convention center building. Rushing water flooded the street as shoppers and diners watched. One video shows workers hiding behind a pillar as a high pressure hose whips around.
“We’re sitting there outside and all of a sudden this water stream starts coming down the road underneath us, so we sort of evacuated,” one witness said.
Kevin and Melissa Hall, who were visiting from West Virginia said they were nearly hit by the blast.
“Water just kind of squirted out just a little bit, nothing like what you saw there. As soon as we got past it, then all of a sudden it just came out like a big waterfall. I mean, it was just shooting out,” Kevin Hall said. “I’ve never seen that big of a water leak in a city before.”
Bystanders said the water was shut off in a matter of minutes.
“It’s not something you see every day,” one man said.
No injuries were reported.
In a statement Thursday morning, Boston Water and Sewer Commission spokesperson Stephen Mulloney said the incident involved an internal fire control system at the Hynes Convention Center.
Mulloney said convention center personnel were able to control the situation and the water and sewer commission was not notified.
“Often times in these situations we will get called to shut down the main, but they had all the necessary valves and shutoffs inside,” he said.
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