Old Smokestack Tries To Kill Guy In Excavator

A smokestack collapses onto an excavator recently in Pell City Alabama.

Recently, crews in Pell City Alabama decided they needed to get rid of a derelict 158-foot tall, 2.6 million pound brick smokestack looming over the town.

They tried to take the thing down with explosives - twice. It still stood tottering and damaged, when Tim Phifer decided to finish the smokestack off by knocking it down with his excavator.

It worked!

Trouble is, the smokestack all 2.6 million pounds of it, landed on his excavator. Not good.

Luckily, he had the presense of mind to stay in the excavator rather than trying to flee. The excavator was crushed, but the protective cage surrounding him helped him hang in there.

He just suffered a couple of scratches and was totally covered in soot. But he's OK.

Here's the dramatic report from Good Morning America, partly filmed via drone. Awesome and scary (h/t) Boing Boing.

Dying Building Was Out To Kill Somebody

The building seems far enough away, but
the demolition sent a piece of concrete into this crowd.  

Everybody loves to watch when they blow up a building to demolish it and replace it with something else.

You think you're at a safe distance, but think again. This building, razed recently in the Czech Republic, tried to kill somebody watching the scene by hurling, very fast, a hunk of concrete.

Judging from the reaction you hear, the person who was hit didn't die, and probably wasn't badly hurt, which is a good thing. But still, watch this video. Scary: