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A worker sifting through household waste was lucky he wasn't seriously injured after a distress flare exploded in his hands.
The marine flare exploded and ricocheted around the room after it was dumped in a resident's bin and taken to the recycling plant.
CCTV from inside the waste centre shows the man working through the rubbish as it arrives on the conveyor belt.
He picks up the flare and looks down the end of it, before seconds later it explodes.
The terrified worker curls into a ball and tries to cover his face and head as the flare rattles around, hitting the walls and ceiling.
The accident took place at recycling giant Amey's site in Waterbeach, Cambridgeshire.