A crew of refuse workers narrowly escaped injury when a bin exploded while they were loading a truck in London, footage released by Barnet Council shows.
The terrifying incident was caught on the truck's rear camera, with video showing two workers loading rubbish bins onto the truck before a sudden explosion.
Barnet Council said the blast was caused by combustible items, such gas canisters or bottles, batteries or aerosols, being wrongly placed into a residential bin.
The items were then crushed by the compacter, causing the explosion.
Alan Schneiderman, a Barnet Council cabinet member for environment and climate change, said the video was "incredibly shocking".
"I hope this helps people to understand how important it is to properly recycle items," he said. Credit: Barnet Council via Storyful