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Shiraz Nawaz, 36, is pictured outside Dixy Chicken in Shirley, Solihull on April 21, 2015. Mr Nawaz narrowly escaped injury after an open manhole he was walking past shot flames 15 feet in to the air. See SWNS story SWFLAMES. Lucky Shiraz Nawaz, 36, was walking to his local takeaway when he heard buzzing from the ground just a few feet behind him. The building contractor turned around just in time to see a massive plume of black smoke followed by huge flames shooting up from the ground. Incredibly the dad-of-two – who feels lucky to be alive – managed to grab his phone in time to take a film of the astonishing incident in Stratford Road, Shirley, Solihull. The baffling movie shows plumes dark smoke billowing up out of the charred ground, followed by blasts of flames, reaching the top of the nearby shop fronts. Miraculously nobody was hurt in the incident after Shiraz evacuated the nearby takeaway, told them to turn off their gas supply, and called the fire service. Shiraz, who is a former gas engineer, said he believes the flames yesterday evening (Mon) were as a result of an electrical fault beneath a man hole.