Motorists in Canada came under attack from hailstones the size of grapefruits as they drove down a highway in Alberta, on Monday.
Windscreens were smashed, roofs damaged and people were injured as a freak storm hit the Gasoline Alley area of the city of Red Deer.
Gibran Marquez captured footage of the car he was in being bombarded by huge ice balls as he and two others tried to take cover while the hail rained down on them.
In the footage, which has had nearly one million views, thuds of the hailstones pounding the car can be heard, while the windscreen looks to be cracked in several places where it has been hit, with screams coming from the vehicle.
The driver of the car, who is shielding the woman passenger next to him, is given a rucksack to place on his head for extra protection, before the left rear window is smashed by another projectile.
This ordeal, as they pulled over to wait out the storm, went on for 17 minutes, before the skies eventually cleared.
“I had to get footage of this, the world needs to see how serious these storms can get in a matter of seconds,” Gibran posted on Twitter. As well as including a picture of his wrecked car, he revealed that he and his friends suffered cuts, bruises and mild concussion following the bombardment.
He also posted a video of two large hailstones in the palm of his left hand, with the caption: “These were the smaller-sized ones about 15-20 minutes afterwards.”
There were other motorists caught up in the freak attack, with Diana Picek Barrientos’s car also being pummelled by the ice stones.
“I hope you guys are OK,” she replied to Gibran on Twitter, with an image of a shattered back window of her vehicle. “I was one of the people behind you. We are OK, some minor scratches on my neck as I tried to protect our son, but we lost our car as well.”
Gibran thanked the emergency services who came to their aid.
“Huge thank you to all the first responders that came to our aid, you guys killed it,” he wrote. “Along with all the passing road travellers that made sure we were all safe as-well, proud Canadian moment seeing us all come together in these situations.”
Social media users were shocked to see such damage wreaked by hail, with one person writing: “Can you imagine being caught in that on a motorcycle?”, while another added: “How frightening. I can’t believe the sizes of those hailstones.”
The storm had a tornado warning attached to it for several hours until it was eventually cancelled after the hail, said reports.
