NBC News

Man Hit by Hawaiian ‘Lava Bomb': It Had ‘Just So Much Force'

Darryl Clinton called it "a mean one" that flew straight out of him "as if it came out of a rifle barrel"

A man who had his leg shattered by a "lava bomb" ejected by Hawaii's Kilauea vocano on Saturday told NBC News he could have been killed if it had hit another part of his body.

Darryl Clinton was the first person to be seriously injured in Kilauea's latest eruptive period. He was hurt by a piece of rock and lava that slammed into his leg while he was standing on a balcony at his home in the Puna district of Hawaii's Big Island.

"The worst impact I’ve ever had in my life," he said Tuesday from a hospital bed. "I mean, just so much force."

He called it "a mean one" that flew straight out of him "as if it came out of a rifle barrel."

[NATL] Scenes From Kilauea: Lava Destroys Hundreds of Homes Overnight

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