WATCH: Man throws cigarette into sewer, instantly regrets it

A man has miraculously escaped death after throwing a cigarette butt down a sewer hole causing an enormous explosion that sent him flying backwards.

The astonishing moment the man accidentally caused the underground sewer to blow up was captured by a CCTV camera.

The moment probably occurred in Tehran, and shows the man throwing the cigarette butt down a hole, before a massive blast rocks the street seconds later.

The footage shows a well-dressed man standing over the small round hole on the pavement, taking a cigarette from his mouth and throws it into the sewer.

Suddenly just seconds later, an enormous explosion erupts from beneath, blowing the pavement up and throwing the man backwards.

When the dust settles and the full impact of the blast can be seen, the man can be seen lying on the floor of the pavement covered in dirt.

The visibly distressed man manages to pull himself to his feet and dust himself down before walking away.

A caption written in Persian alongside the video appears to warn of the dangers of throwing cigarette butts into sewers.

According to the time stamp on the video the incident occurred just before 10am on March 29 this year.

The footage has been viewed millions of times around the world since first being circulated on Twitter on Monday.